Large part of Red Light District Amsterdam almost sold

Charles Geerts, the biggest owner of the famous prostitution windows in Amsterdam, is about to sell all his properties in the Red Light District.

This is reported by AT5, the local Amsterdam news station. Charles Geerts owns about 20 buildings in the Red Light District, with in total about 60 'windows'.

The buildings will be sold to housing corporation 'Het Oosten'. Although it is unknown what the new destination of the properties will be, most likely this will not be prostitution but residences. Housing corporations in the Netherlands were set up in the early 1900's, in order to produce social housing, for the 'masses'. Nowadays, they still have a social function, but also produce housing in the so-called 'free sector'.

The City of Amsterdam wants to reduce the number prostitution businesses, because it fears crime and money laundering. A new law, introduced in 2003, enables cities to withdraw licenses from entrepreneurs on the grounds of suspicion of money laundering, or 'risk of criminal funding'. Although Charles Geerts has never been convicted of anything of the kind, he has apparently chosen to leave the business altogether.

With the sale, about 20% of the entire Red Light District, known to be one of the most popular tourist attraction, will disappear.

Other owners of prostitution houses are still under investigation.