Bridges Real Estate has purchased a mixed-use building in the center of Utrecht, as the real estate owner and developer continues to invest in select locations that offer potential for long-term value creation.

Located at Vredenburg 17-19, it offers 6,300 square meters of lettable space across retail, leisure and business uses, with tenants including fashion retailer Bomont, Dutch Gym and Meeting Center Vredenburg.

As part of family office De Wereld van Vermaat, Bridges purchased the building from Redevco for €17.3M, VGvisie reported.

Situated in a high-footfall area of the city center, only part of the building is used for retail, a shift that's becoming increasingly common in city centers across the country. Less than 80,000 of just over 205,000 commercial premises within shopping areas in the Netherlands are now shops, down from 107,000 20 years ago, according to data from market research firm Locatus.

The total has declined for 10 consecutive years as more stores close, while the total of hospitality, leisure and business services units has hardly changed. 

But retail is not necessarily struggling. On the contrary, retail turnover increased 3.1% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2026, with nonfood retail up 3.5% as retail bankruptcies dropped to 59, the lowest in three years, according to CBS, the government's national agency of statistics. 

And retail in Utrecht is improving at a faster pace. Retail vacancy in the city center dropped from 8.7% to 5.3% by floor space in 2025, close to the 5% vacancy standard, as the amount of retail floor space in use increased for the first time in years, according to the Utrecht Monitor retail report.

Vredenburg in particular is a prime location, as it links the train station to the city’s historic center. The street is also the city’s most expensive shopping street, with rents at €1,350 per square meter in 2025, higher than Rotterdam’s Lijnbaan and only surpassed by Amsterdam’s Kalverstraat.

Guido Aben, real estate director at Bridges Real Estate, said the company can add more value to the building through active management and attention to how it is used.