Nido sells West Hampstead student digs for £124m
Student accommodation group Nido has sold its asset in West Hampstead for £124m.
The student digs comprise 347 beds and has planning permission for a further 41 studios …
Unite announces £342 million disposal
Unite Students, the UK’s leading owner, manager, and developer of student accommodation, today announces the disposal of two London properties to its London Student Accommodation joint venture (‘LSAV’) with GIC for £342 million (Unite share £171 million), in line with book values and reflecting an average net initial yield of 4.0%.
The properties are located in Wembley and Whitechapel and offer 1,358 bed spaces, of which the majority are direct-let to students. The Wembley property, Arch View House, was completed for the 2020/21 academic year under a forward fund contract. The two properties had a gross asset value of £338 million as at 31 December 2020 and are valued based on stabilised net operating income of £14.2 million for the 2020/21 academic year. The disposal to LSAV follows the extension of LSAV to 2032 announced on 4 May 2021.
LSAV will fund the acquisition through £208 million of equity from Unite and GIC and a £140 million 8-year loan facility provided by Barings. Upon completion, the Group’s see-through LTV reduces to 30% on a pro forma basis after also adjusting for the £90 million of disposals announced on 30 March 2021. The net disposal proceeds will initially be used to repay Group debt ahead of reinvestment into the development pipeline and further growth opportunities over time. The transaction will result in a small dilution to 2021 EPRA earnings of 0.4 pence per share. Accordingly, the Group retains its EPRA EPS guidance of 27-30 pence for 2021 …
Calico Liverpool student scheme sold to Dubai investor
Niveda Group, a London-based developer and asset manager, has offloaded the 735-bedroom block on Liverpool’s Norton Street to an unnamed private buyer for £61.5m.
The £38m project completed in October 2019 and comprises 220,000 sq ft of purpose-built student accommodation plus social hub areas and a retail area spanning two blocks. The bedrooms are arranged into five- and six-bed cluster flats and there are also 101 self-contained studios.
Calico was designed by architecture studios KKA and, later, Falconer Chester Hall and replaces a series of now-demolished commercial buildings and a former car park close to Liverpool city centre. The main contractor was Create Construction and Fresh Student Living is the property manager …
Watkin Jones sells Leicester student scheme to DFI
Watkin Jones has sold a 462-bed PBSA asset in Leicester to Deutsche Finance International (DFI) for £35.6m.
The off-market acquisition by DFI is a forward commitment to The Tannery, which Watkin Jones is set to complete ahead of the 2021/22 academic year.
The building comprises 415 en-suite rooms and 47 studios, as well amenities including a cinema room, games room, fitness studio, lounges and study areas. It will be operated by Watkin Jones’s asset management business Fresh …
Lone Star makes PBSA debut with £315m portfolio buy
US investor Lone Star has made its first play in the UK PBSA sector with the acquisition of a 2,621-bed portfolio …
JV secures £80m for Glasgow BTR development
A joint venture between Apache Capital Partners and Harrison Street has secured £80m in debt funding
from BentallGreenOak for a development in Glasgow …
Round Hill Capital seals deal for new student accommodation investment in Spain
Round Hill Capital (RHC), a leading global real estate investment, development and asset management firm, has closed a deal to acquire a 12,800 sq m site for its first PBSA development in Spain. Located in the Aravaca district of Madrid, the 500-bed scheme will bring much needed high-quality student housing to the city. Construction is set to start in 2021 and the development is scheduled to be ready for occupation for the 2023/24 academic year.
The site has full planning permission and is within close proximity of many of Madrid’s leading universities including IESE, ESIC, Francisco de Vitoria and the Complutense University of Madrid. It is also exceptionally well-located with rail and bus links to the city centre just a five-minute walk away.
The deal marks Round Hill Capital’s 23rd PBSA investment in continental Europe, bringing its current portfolio to over 9,590 beds. The company is actively seeking further investments in Spain as it looks to build on its expansive portfolio across the continent, having identified significant supply/demand imbalances in high quality student accommodation in the Spanish market. In the 2018-2019 academic year, there were only 20,693 PBSA beds in Madrid to meet a demand estimated at 114,000 …
GSA enters US market through acquisition of 8,000 beds across 27 assets
Global Student Accommodation Group (“GSA”) has today announced the acquisition of twenty seven US based properties from UCAL, the joint venture with University Communities LLC (‘University Communities”) and the California State Teachers Retirement Fund (“CalSTRS”). This transaction accelerates GSA’s growth ambitions by adding 8,000 beds across 19 cities and 18 states from coast to coast in the US. Price is not disclosed.
GSA has also acquired the property management company (“UComm”) and has entered a forward arrangement with University Communities to work together in partnership on acquiring and developing future student housing properties in the US …
Student homes site in capital sold to Watkin Jones
Development company, S Harrison, has sold a development site in Edinburgh earmarked for student accommodation.
Watkin Jones has acquired the plot in Gorgie Road which has planning permission for 248 student bedrooms in two buildings made up of 35 studio rooms and a mixture of cluster apartments, ranging from six to 10 bedrooms.
It will have a range of amenities including study rooms, a games area, gym, cinema, laundry and secure cycle storage for every resident, as well as incorporating quality soft landscaping, connecting the buildings to the riverbank on the Water of Leith …
Harrison Street and CA Ventures form JV to invest in four PBSA schemes
Harrison Street and CA Ventures have formed a new joint venture partnership to develop and acquire PBSA assets across the UK …