Large part of Red Light District will disappear

September 6, 2007 - Amsterdam

The biggest owner of the prostitution windows in the Red Light District, Charles Geerts, is very close to selling his property to a housing corporation.

Charles Geerts owns about 20 houses with in total 60 windows. There are about 450 windows in the whole Red Light District. Since a few years Charles Geerts had troubles with the City of Amsterdam.

The City of Amsterdam wants to reduce the number of prostitution businesses, because it fears crime and money laundering. Because of a new law (2003) the City of Amsterdam is legally allowed to withdraw licenses 'on the suspicion of money laundering and/or risk of criminal funding'.

Charles Geerts has never been convicted of anything of this kind. Still, he has apparently chosen to leave the business.

It's unclear what the new destination of the houses will be. But it's unlikely they will be used for prostitution again. Probably they will end up as residences.