West India Company
The building was constructed in 1617 as a meat market (on the ground floor) and waiting room for the local militia (on the upper floor). In 1623 it was rented by the Dutch West India Company, founded two years earlier, and was used until 1647 for meetings by the governing board of the Dutch West India Company. During this time the building was expanded with two wings around a central courtyard, tripling the size of the building. In 1647, the Dutch West India Company got into financial troubles and was forced to move to the West-Indisch Pakhuis, a Dutch West India Company warehouse on the IJ waterfront, which thereafter became known as the West-Indisch Huis.