Utrecht Science Park to get bigger and more affordable supermarket

In three years, there will be a bigger supermarket in one of the buildings of the Utrecht Science Park. It is going to be twice as big as the current Spar, which means 750 square metres instead of 400. UU is studying whether there is a suitable place for it in the short term.

In the long term, the idea is to have a "full service" supermarket spread over approximately 900 square metres. It will be located in a future building that will take over the space now occupied by the Langeveld building. The construction works are scheduled to start in 2032.

Impatient
The municipal administration informed the city council of this news today. Local parties had been pressuring for a bigger supermarket in the Science Park for a long time, considering the wishes expressed by residents and visitors throughout the past decade. Studies on the quality of life on campus also pointed out time and again that a bigger and more affordable supermarket was missing in the area.

Last year, local politicians expressed their impatience regarding the issue. The new vision plan for the Utrecht Science Park did not include a "full service" supermarket, despite the fact that the number of residents and visitors is expected to rise in the next few years. The document only envisioned a "bigger" version of the current Spar supermarket, considering that another large grocery store will be built on Archimedeslaan, an avenue to the northwest of the Utrecht Science Park.

Many residents expressed their discontent, leading the Utrecht branch of the PvdA party to start a petition. The city council even passed a motion calling on the alderman to hold talks with the university about the problem. The motion was denied by the mayor, who reasoned that there would not be enough customers for such a supermarket and that such a step would contribute to attracting even more cars to the campus.

Efforts paid off
But all the pressure from the council paid off in the end. A new study by UU shows that there is, indeed, enough clientele. After all, 4,000 new homes are expected to be built on campus and 4,000 to 8,000 job positions will be created as well. 

UU stresses that the new supermarket should be a "basket type of establishment", meaning that it should be primarily targeted at residents and visitors of the campus, without a parking lot.  

The project developer also conducted its own research on the area surrounding Archimedeslaan and concluded that its enterprise is not mutually exclusive with a new supermarket on campus.

According to a spokesperson for the university, it is not yet clear which company is going to operate the temporary grocery store. UU has a long-term contract with Spar but it is obliged to tender. The university is going to investigate how one thing affects the other. According to UU, Spar's proprietor has indicated that it would be able to offer a more affordable product range in a bigger location.