Great! Last week we wrote an article about what's missing on the Amsterdamsestraatweg. By chance, someone responded who had a vacant property with a hospitality licence until the early hours!. Lovely responses about what people would like to see. An oyster/fish bar, a wine bar, a cava & pinchos bar. Friday afternoon drinks with nibbles, and then staying on. That's what we're waiting for. A bookshop and a clothes shop came up too.
Contents
- The residents are changing
- Astonishing?
- Developments
- Wisselspoor & Cartesiusdriehoek
- Connecting?
- Brainstorm?
- Feeling enthusiastic?!
The residents are changing
At the moment the average transaction price is €5,000 per m2. Prices in the neighbourhood have risen by 14.8%. We've even sold many homes for approx. €6,000 per m2. In the past 3 months, 39 terraced houses were sold, 13 corner houses, 24 apartments up to 80 m2 and 13 apartments larger than 80 m2. On average, 80% of these sold above the asking price. At the moment, 56% of the homes around the Amsterdamsestraatweg are owner-occupied. That's 7,985 homes in total. Most homes were built between 1900 and 1944, no less than 56%. The average household is 1.7 people and between 25 and 45 years old, no less than 41.6%. Even more interesting to know: no less than 66% of people in this neighbourhood are highly educated. In Utrecht as a whole, 61% are highly educated. The group aged between 25 and 45 in Utrecht as a whole is approx. 39.96%. So you can say that the neighbourhood is no longer dangling at the bottom, but is young and highly educated. That also says a lot about people's wishes and spending patterns.
Astonishing?
Why on earth, if the target group is there, are so few nice businesses coming? We have some really lovely businesses: Familie van Rijk, The Food Club, &Meer, Brandstof, Satriales, Winkel vol Winkeltjes & De Straatweg. But where's the rest? Hair salons, kebab shops, phone shops galore. May I shock you for a moment? Half of them are of course there to launder money. But we're not allowed to say that. There's a really big opportunity here for nice businesses. The Nagtegaalstraat and the Burgemeester Reigerstraat have maybe 6 bakers, two butchers, 4 delis, a beautiful shoe shop and nice clothes shops. But isn't that target group slowly shifting? YES!!! I'm probably treading terribly on the toes of a lot of fellow business owners on the Straatweg right now. I don't want to, but come on guys, wake up! We need to unite. We need to adapt to the target group and move with its needs.
Developments
We have good contact with Inge Nix of IXIN. She's the property manager of the Straatweg. I had a lively conversation with her. We're pretty much on the same page. But she has a different role. She said that many business owners are having a hard time on the Straatweg and that marketing is being left undone because of the budget. Not everyone can unite to tackle marketing for the Straatweg together. I love marketing. Do you know Ryan Serhant? An estate agent and marketing guru from New York. Neighbourhoods that aren't popular, he calmly throws a few million at them to put the neighbourhood on the map. Stickers on the pavement. He comes up with the name for the neighbourhood! Honestly, my hands are itching to do this for the Straatweg. Because man, what potential, and man, how nice it already is! We ourselves came from the Vogelenbuurt to live in the Bremstraat. The idea was an up-and-coming neighbourhood: do up the house, live there, make money and go back to the east side. But we're having such a good time. The little house was a bit too small and we really wanted a big garden. So we moved, but stayed in the neighbourhood. We both had the feeling that we'd regret it if we moved back to the east side.
Wisselspoor & Cartesiusdriehoek
Because no fewer than 2 new-build neighbourhoods are coming here. Just imagine what that will do to the make-up and the needs of the neighbourhood. HELLO business owners, where are you? This is surely a huge opportunity to set up here. And you don't even have to wait until your target group arrives. It's already here, it's just going to get a bit bigger. Where is the Spaghetteria to jump into this gap? Where is Mama Kelly, or the guys behind Ruby & Rose & The Street Food Club? The men behind Stan & Co or behind De Markt? There are so many great initiatives there's room for. Nice concept stores, delicatessens or service providers.
Connecting?
Dear business owners, who is closer to the target group than the estate agent in the neighbourhood? Do you want to know what the demand is? As a business owner, would you like a platform on our website? Great! Gladly! I'm happy to give you a platform. Because do you know why I started out on my own? I want to help people. Be creative! See opportunities, analyse them and come up with great ideas together. So are you a business owner on the Straatweg? Shall we work together? That way we'll make the Straatweg even nicer together! No budget? No problem, I'm quite willing to share. Will you then do a bit of advertising for us too? Need nice photos of the Straatweg, so that those grey, concrete photos don't dominate every article about the Straatweg? I'm happy to ask our photographer whether we can use his photos!
Brainstorm?
Would you like to brainstorm with us about the possibilities on the Straatweg? We'd love to think about this together with you. Because we love making our neighbourhood even nicer!
Feeling enthusiastic?!
Are you thinking we could put this positive energy to good use when selling our home in the neighbourhood? Even better, that is our core business after all. The developments, the plans and all our knowledge of the neighbourhood make sure we sell your home well. Many a record in the neighbourhood is in our name!
