Category: Investment Activity

Moda has entered into a joint venture with Aermont Capital to extensively expand into purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) space.

The strategic partnership marks a significant expansion into the PBSA sector for Moda, who to date has focused on Build to Rent, single-family and co-living developments. Now, backed by Aermont Capital’s private equity, the joint venture is aiming to develop a PBSA portfolio of over £1bn across the UK.

The partnership signals strong investor confidence in Moda’s expansion strategy. The focus will be on both subject-to-planning as well as consented sites in London and strategic regional hubs, particularly those with access to key Russell Group universities …

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BGO Strategic Capital Partners has successfully recapitalised a portfolio of two purpose-built student accommodation assets in the UK, in partnership with Orka Investments. The transaction strengthens BGO SCP’s exposure to the UK student housing sector, a high-growth market driven by record international student demand and persistent supply constraints. This marks the foundation of a new UK PBSA platform, with the ambition to build a £100m+ portfolio in the sector. These two assets will serve as the seed investments for this expanding platform.

The assets comprise two modern, fully-amenitised student accommodation properties located in Manchester and Derby: university cities with strong market dynamics. The assets, which comprise 568 beds, are well-positioned to benefit from sustained rental growth and operational enhancements. The investment aligns with BGO SCP’s strategy of acquiring high-quality living sector assets alongside experienced partners, targeting attractive long-term value creation.

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Hines has acquired a new purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) development in Valencia for the Hines European Real Estate Partners III fund.

Currently under construction, the project intends to deliver 650 beds across two buildings in a single complex. It expands the company’s Spanish residential portfolio beyond Madrid and Barcelona to Spain’s third-largest city …

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Firethorn Trust has exchanged contracts with Curlew Capital’s CST2 Fund to acquire the Poland House development site in Stratford, East London. Curlew Capital, Savills and CMS acted for the vendor, and Walker Morris acted for Firethorn Trust.

With planning permission to create modern PBSA, Firethorn will deliver 284 high-quality student beds at the Poland House site.

Accompanied by generous amenities, including dedicated study spaces, common rooms and a residents’ gym, the development will feature 35% affordable accommodation. A dedicated community space will also be delivered as part of the scheme …

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Alchemy RE is a new company entering the PBSA market. It has been launched by Matthew Pullen (former CEO of Apo Group) and Nic Simpkin (former CFO of Berkeley Group) as an innovative new operating partner to real estate investors looking to grow their presence in the living sectors.

Alchemy RE is being seeded with the £1bn development pipeline of Astir Living, the London-based developer founded by Nic in 2018. 

Its first project will be an 850-bedroom PBSA scheme at Brent Cross, followed by a mix of other living sectors assets with a particular focus on co-living …

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CDL Hospitality Trusts recently announced their first acquisition into the PBSA sector. The trust has purchased Benson Yard, a 404-bedroom PBSA development in Liverpool.

Knight Frank valued the property at £39m, with the total acquisition cost reaching approximately £41m. The scheme has recorded an occupancy rate of over 97%, achieving a net rental income of over £2.5m.

The Benson Yard development completed in February 2023 and provides 47 studios and 357 en-suite bedrooms arranged in clusters of five, seven and eight …

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Global Student Accommodation (GSA) has formed a joint venture with Nuveen Real Estate, one of the largest real estate investment managers in the world, on behalf of its parent company TIAA, and signed an agreement to acquire the YouFirst Campus portfolio in France from Gecina for €540m.

The strategic partnership combines GSA’s expertise in all aspects of investing and managing student housing globally, with Nuveen’s experience in real estate investment management.

The joint venture will acquire Gecina’s student housing portfolio of over 3,600 beds across 18 operational assets in Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Marseille and Paris, providing immediate scale and market presence across the country’s leading educational cities …

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US-based property investment group Greystar, the company behind one of Australia’s biggest build-to-rent projects, has taken a dive into the local student accommodation market after forking out $1.6 billion for seven assets in five cities.

The portfolio, acquired from a joint venture between Singapore’s Wee Hur Holding and the country’s sovereign fund GIC, comprises purpose-built student accommodation towers in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra.

The acquisition signals an exit from the Australian student accommodation market for Wee Hur after the developer sold a 49.9 per cent stake in the assets to GIC affiliate Reco Weather Private in 2022 …

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