Description
Naaldwijk had lost a lot of footfall and retail spending to Rotterdam, The Hague and Delft, cities no more than a 30-minute drive away. Naaldwijk was simply not attracting enough visitors, despite its attractive location in the catchment area.The winning move turned out to be adding a little big city charm to the town centre. The development of the De Tuinen shopping centre integrated 50 shops and restaurants in the urban structure – with 29,000 inhabitants – in a completely organic way. The charm was guaranteed by the architecture, the extensive range of shops and restaurants and the surroundings themselves. Foruminvest devoted a great deal of attention to the finer details, partly through the use of high-grade materials, while the colours and smells are also extremely enticing.
This is how the project successfully achieved its primary goal: to win back shoppers and visitors for the town centre. Thanks to this development, Naaldwijk has restored its regional pulling power. In 1999, De Tuinen won the annual prize awarded by the Dutch Council of Shopping Centres (NRW). In 2000, the centre won the FGH Real Estate prize, with the jury issuing the following praise: “Vision and courage. A perfect example of a successful development that delivered numerous benefits for both companies and the town as a whole”.
NRW annual prize: First prize for the best shopping centre in the Netherlands
FGH Real Estate prize: First prize for best development in the Netherlands
