AM Real Estate is responsible for the Lichthoven project. Lichthoven will be a property with two to four hundred housing units, thirty thousand square meters of office buildings, and five to ten thousand square meters of retail space. The designated construction site is that of the former post office. The concept is an important aspect of the city’s plans to further develop the area surrounding the train station.

Negotiations between AM Real Estate and City Living, owner and manager of student hotels, are in an advanced phase, according to ED. City Living is based in Amsterdam and is working on setting up and managing so-called Student hotels. In 2008, the first Student hotel opened in Liège, followed by a 252-room Rotterdam accommodation last year. In August of this year, City Living will be reopening the former Elsevier building, offering seven hundred student rooms. The Hague will follow in 2014.

Frank Uffen, marketing manager at City Living, says his company is very much interested in Eindhoven, and that AM Real Estate and them are seriously looking into a feasible solution that ties in with the City Living business model. Over the next few years, City Living wants to have at least five thousand student rooms in the Benelux. Uffen: “We focus on the foreign student who comes to the Netherlands for their studies. We want to provide that group with their own community. That why, apart from rooms, we also offer other facilities including a gym, restaurant, library, and workspaces. Students can book a room for  a maximum of two semesters, because we want the community to be dynamic. Students’ friends and family are also welcome to book a short stay at our hotels.” Uffen isn’t aware of the fact that at TU/e master programs last at least two years – four semesters. “That’s something we haven’t discussed yet, but we will definitely take that into consideration as the project progresses.”  Uffen is yet unsure when City Living and AM Real Estate will seal the deal, nor does he know when the Eindhoven student hotel might open its doors. According to ED, that will be in 2014.