Noodopvang Utrecht (Europalaan)
The former office building at Europalaan 44 in Utrecht's Merwedekanaalzone (Kanaleneiland) opened in May 2024 as a temporary reception location for around 130 asylum seekers, later raised to roughly 200. The city and COA have since decided to convert it into Utrecht's second permanent asylum centre: the building is due to be emptied in January 2027 for renovation and to reopen from 2028 housing up to 385 asylum seekers for up to 15 years, run on the city's community-focused 'Plan Einstein' model.
Occupancy
123
people (Aug 2025)
Per night
€184
per person (benchmark)
Annual
€8.3m
estimated
Background
The site sits at Europalaan, Utrecht. It is run by the COA (Centraal Orgaan opvang asielzoekers), the Dutch government’s asylum-reception agency. For what the azc / noodopvang categories mean and how Dutch reception spending breaks down, open the cost panel on the interactive map with the Netherlands selected in Settings.
In the news
Nov 2024
Europalaan to become Utrecht's second permanent asylum centre
Utrecht and the COA agreed to turn the temporary reception site at Europalaan 44 into a long-term asylum centre for up to 385 people for up to 15 years, run on the 'Plan Einstein' model. The building is to be emptied in January 2027 for renovation and reopen from 2028.
DUIC · source
Compiled from public Dutch news reports (each item links to its source). Where a municipality runs more than one reception location, attribution to this specific address reflects the cited report and may be approximate — always check the linked source.
Timeline
May 2024
Temporary reception opens at Europalaan 44
Former office building takes in around 130 asylum seekers, later increased to about 200.
Nov 2024
Approved as permanent AZC for up to 385
City decides Europalaan will become Utrecht's second permanent asylum centre from 2028, for up to 15 years.
Cost
Dutch asylum reception is funded by central government through the COA. At an illustrative benchmark of about €184 per person per night for emergency reception (noodopvang), the 123 people recorded here on 13 August 2025 imply roughly €8.3m per year. This is an order-of-magnitude figure for context only, not a site-specific invoice — emergency reception typically runs around three times the cost of a regular centre.
Sources
COA / Rijksoverheid (Kamerstuk, 5 Sep 2025) · 2025-08-13. View source
Occupancy is the COA register snapshot of 13 August 2025 and may have changed since. Coordinates were geocoded from the published street address via the official PDOK Locatieserver.