NETHERLANDS - The €83bn Dutch pension fund PGGM has commissioned construction firm Ballast Nedam to build its new €54m headquarters.

The giant pension scheme announced yesterday the extension, to be finished in 2010, "will feature 50,000 square metres of floor space and an underground car park on three levels with space for 1.200 cars".

An Utrecht-based court withdrew PGGM's planning permission to expand its existing offices, a former monastery in Zeist, early last month, according to court documents published online.

However, "this will not affect the build, which will start this autumn," a spokesman for the fund told IPE.

The ruling came after wildlife activists argued at a preliminary hearing in March that expansion would damage the surrounding landscape.

Elsewhere, the €590m Nieuwegein-based Ballast Nedam pension fund has reappointed ING Investment Management for its €190m equity portfolio.

However, ING will change its investment approach by shifting the entire portfolio into its multi-manager global equity fund, a spokeswoman told IPE.

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