On Friday 7 November, we squatted Sint Jacobsdwarsstraat 6, owned by Stadsgoed N.V., through Stadsgoed Monumenten B.V. The same company owns or owned the former windows on the Dollebijnensteeg in the Red Light District that were squatted by Mokum Kraakt in 2024. They were also the owners of Rokin 116 when it was squatted and re-squatted in 2003. After the first eviction, the gemeente gave Stadsgoed a €50 million mortgage to renovate the building and turn it into expensive housing for sale, even though the company had no money.
Stadsgoed grew out of the woningcorporatie Het Oosten, which through a merger later became Stadgenoot. The company’s purpose was to buy properties from the criminal underworld — in collaboration with the geemente — and increase the liveability of the city. For anyone who needs a translation from property-market-speak, liveability here means higher rents, soulless touristshops, more hotels with extortionate prices. And of course, happy, rich speculants.
The former anti-speculation collective SPOK published an investigation into the company in 2006 which showed that despite their publicised function of taking back properties from the criminal underworld, the previous ‘criminal’ owners often simply re-invest the money from into other properties in the city. Stadsgoed’s real function is simply to gentrify the city, turning monumental buildings into hotels, tourist spots & yuppie shops, unwanted and unreachable for normal residents of Amsterdam.
Housing is for everyone, and property is theft, so let’s break down the doors of empty buildings everywhere, and reclaim the city from the rich.
If you want to contact us, we’re reachable by email. Feel free to tip us empty buildings 😉
Rat Elevator
Sint Jacobsdwarsstraat 6
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
rat_elevator [at] riseup [dot] net
Squatting assistance, advisory service for squatters in the Netherlands: https://radar.squat.net/en/groups/topic/spreekuur-ksu
Some squats in the Netherlands: https://radar.squat.net/en/groups/country/NL/squated/squat
Groups (social center, collective, squat) in the Netherlands: https://radar.squat.net/en/groups/country/NL
Events in the Netherlands: https://radar.squat.net/en/events/country/NL
