Wittenborg offers helping hand to the shortage of student housing in Apeldoorn

On 22 February, Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences held a pitch for the construction of a c. 6,000m2 building complex in the Learning District next to Apeldoorn central station. Maggie Feng represented WUAS at the People@Places location in this Partner Dialogue where the Municipality of Apeldoorn, Province of Gelderland, NS and ProRail are working together on a Development Plan for the station area (the "Spoorzone") into a Leaning District. The plan to reorganise the area and develop it into a modern mobility hub is a project of enormous proportions that should give a huge boost to the city of Apeldoorn, the business community and the learning environment.  

The complex proposed by Wittenborg should enable the establishment of education, start-ups and scaled-up partner SMEs. Besides, Wittenborg pitched for building more than 200 studios as short-stay accommodation for Wittenborg students and 80 hotel rooms for all students studying Hospitality and Tourism at institutions in the Apeldoorn area. "Make Apeldoorn more future-proof, the Learning District will become the new pumping heart of the city and Wittenborg will add an international character to it," says CEO of Wittenborg Maggie Feng. "We look forward to further dialogue. Action is needed now."

Wittenborg's pitch fits perfectly with the future vision of the Learning District. The organisers see opportunities to develop the area: "A pleasant environment with knowledge centres and meeting places - inside and outside - where knowledge institutions, start-ups, innovative companies and governments work together in the field of safety and security. This requires good connections between Saxion, UT Twente, Wittenborg, ROC Aventus and with companies in the Spoorzone."

Apeldoorn has a shortage of housing for students, but the municipality has agreed to build 600 student houses by 2030. Those student housing complexes are to be built in Apeldoorn's Spoorzone. The building plans proposed by Wittenborg are a perfect way to address this problem and get the students, the municipality and small enterprises in Apeldoorn out of the doldrums. In January, Wittenborg opened its new student housing complex on de Ruyterstraat and can now accommodate more than 150 students. This number will increase significantly if Wittenborg gets the green light from the municipality to build the complexes.

WUP 28/04/2023
by Niels Otterman
©WUAS Press