As the buying of offices for conversion or redevelopment across Europe’s central business districts hit a 14-year high in the first half of the year, Dutch investors competed for existing offices in key locations across the Netherlands. 

According to a report from MSCI Real Capital Analytics, 17% of all office sales in CBDs in H1 2026 were designated for renovation or redevelopment, above 2024’s share and the 13% long-term average. 

Residential and hotel usage were listed as the main new purposes for the offices, equating to more than 70% of registered office conversions from 2022 to the end of H1 2026. 

Some of the biggest such deals this year include A&O Hostels' March acquisition of former Allianz offices in Berlin, which will become the location of a 2,500-bed hostel. 

Overall, MSCI predicts that office conversion will continue to shape the market as investors adapt to changing tenants' needs.  

Occurring during a wider slowdown in deal volumes across Europe, Dutch office deals went the other direction. Office investment volume in the Netherlands increased by 66% in H1 2026 to €985M, more than double the 2023 low of €443M, according to data from CBRE. Demand for actual offices in CBDs and other prime locations across the Netherlands is up once more, with private investors playing an increasingly larger role in the sector, CBRE said. 

But office conversion in the Netherlands has become more difficult to justify financially. A new report published by the Economic Institute for Construction warns that a cabinet policy to help the country’s housing shortage by converting existing buildings isn’t effective enough. 

According to EIB, conversions peaked in 2018 and 2019, when commercial buildings were converted into 12,000 homes. Drawing on initial figures from CBS, the official government agency for national statistics, EIB estimates that 2025's number will be around 6,500. Former offices were found to be the biggest sector for conversion, ahead of retail. 

Despite the slowdown, deals for office conversions are still being made. In February, real estate developers Provast and Marwijmo purchased an 8,000-square-meter former office building, Maaspark in Rotterdam, from Bouwinvest, with the aim of turning it into 52 luxury apartments. 

But empty offices like this are becoming increasingly harder to source. EIB said the limited new supply of buildings, paired with a lot of conversions taking place before 2020, has further reduced the oversupply of buildings in the Dutch office sector, leaving less outdated stock for investors to work with.