Want to live in one of the coolest apartment complexes in Rotterdam?
Just North of the center of Rotterdam lies the Heliport complex, a "village" in the middle of the city - 584 characteristic homes, built on what was once Rotterdam's heliport.
Properties in this complex are never for sale for long, and moving within the complex because people don't want to leave is not unusual. One of the owners of Graaf Balderikstraat 119 first lived at Gravin Adélastraat, and sold that house to people who were already Heliport residents, but who were looking for something a bit larger. Heliport has an active Facebook group in which residents organize cleanups, exchange things with each other, borrow tools from one another and organize neighborhood activities.
The house is located on the side of the Vriendenlaan, on the third floor, on a dead-end walkway that is only used by the two upstairs neighbours, so there is a lot of privacy. There are storage rooms under the house, so you'll have no neighbors below.
The train station, city center and public transport are all within easy reach, and yet the living here is peaceful.
One of the sellers is a very active board member (portfolio maintenance) of VvE Heliport III and can tell you everything about the building (and, if desired, give advice on possible renovations, sustainability improvements, etc.).
Because the current owners will be emigrating, part of the furniture can stay at the house if the buyer so desires. The plan of the owners is to bring along the modular (non-built-in) stainless steel kitchen, but if the buyer would like to have it, this is negotiable (with the exception of the stove, which is partially self-built and will therefore be brought along with them).
Need a parking space? The current residents rent a place in the garage for € 120 per month, which can be taken over at the same rent. A permit for parking on the street is also an option if there are no spaces for sale in the garage (there are hardly ever spaces for sale; board member Martin of the VvE can let you know what you need to send to the municipality for a permit to be awarded).
Layout:
- elevator to the second floor, then stairs to the third floor (NB: the dead end walkway on which the house is located is not connected to one of the elevators, so you always need to take one flight of stairs)
- hall/entrance, tiled with Portuguese-style tiling
- toilet/utility closet/spacious hallway closet (under the stairs to the two upstairs apartments, 93x200)
- living room (493x470) with open kitchen (370x225 + niche/cupboard dishwasher 127x93)
- access from the living room to the very large balcony (965x170!) on the North
- the house is on one level, with access to three bedrooms via the hallway
- the largest bedroom (365x337) is located on the South side of the house and is used as a TV room / 'winter living room'
- the other two bedrooms (232x332 and 232x243) are located on the North side of the house and, like the living room, give access to the balcony
- bathroom (158x227) in the middle of the house, renovated in 2020, with a freestanding shower cabin, sink and washing machine connection
- separate storage room on the second floor
Particularities:
- year of construction: 1981
- ownership of land (leasehold has been bought off)
- energy label: C
- 2023 VvE contribution € 181.92
- age clause, asbestos clause
- no sale to investors, no buy to let
- transfer date in consultation (preference sellers: after January 1, 2024)
- The house is located in a building that is connected to the city heating system, however the current owners do not use this for heating the house (but they do use it for hot water) and have disconnected the house from the system. They heat electrically with separate units, see also this article. New central installation connected to the city heating is possible and costs approximately € 1,750. An alternative would be to use a high-quality air conditioner as a heat pump, just like the upstairs neighbors, this would be about € 3,000, but your running costs will be considerably lower than with city heating.
- The home will be part of the next painting maintenance project of the VvE, possibly this opportunity can be used to install HR++ glass in all the window frames (home is now partly single glazed, partly 'ordinary' double glazing).