Henderson Park and Hines Aquire Barcelona Student Housing Scheme (ES)

Monday, 13 August 2018

Henderson Park, the European real estate investment platform founded by Nick Weber, and Hines have completed the acquisition of a site to develop a 750-bed student housing project in Barcelona, Spain. This is Henderson Park and Hines’ second student accommodation investment together following an earlier project in Lancaster, UK, and forms part of their joint venture to pursue value-added opportunities in the sector across Europe. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Occupying half of a city block in the 22@ Innovation District on the edge of Barcelona’s desirable neighbourhood of Poblenou, the joint venture’s latest project will see the development of a 20,000m², 750-bed student housing scheme, just 15 minutes’ walk from nearby university campuses. The JV is targeting to deliver the scheme for the 2021/2022 academic year.

The finished scheme, ‘Aparto Diagonal Mar’, will incorporate a range of shared amenities including a swimming pool, gym and sports facilities. Hines’ in-house operating platform, Aparto, will manage the asset once operational, to ensure an enhanced experience for its student residents.

Nick Weber, Founding Partner of Henderson Park, said: “The Spanish market, and Barcelona in particular, presents highly attractive supply and demand dynamics for an investment into the student accommodation sector, and we’ve identified a clear appetite for the kind of high-quality purpose-built product we plan to deliver in this transforming neighbourhood of Barcelona. We are pleased to further extend our partnership with Hines as student housing is an asset class with compelling underlying fundamentals across a range of different European cities.”

Lars Huber, CEO of Hines Europe, said: “The fundamentals of Barcelona’s student housing market are very strong, with an undersupply of quality accommodation, despite the popularity of its universities. 22@ Innovation District is set to provide a memorable living experience and is the ideal location for our Aparto management platform, with its strong placemaking and community focus. This investment demonstrates our commitment to the student housing sector as we continue to look for opportunities in core cities across the UK and Europe with growing and dynamic student populations.”

Original Story: http://europe-re.com/henderson-park-and-hines-acquire-barcelona-student-housing-scheme-es/65522

 

Grosvenor Backs the Rental Sector in Spain & Formalises its First Purchases in Madrid

1 June 2018 – Eje Prime

Grosvenor is betting on a business that is on the rise in Spain: the residential rental market. The group, which is going to spend €200 million on its growth plans in the country between now and 2022, as Eje Prime revealed, has recently acquired a building on Calle Rey Francisco, in the Madrilenian neighbourhood of Argüelles, which it is going to rent out.

The property in question is a protected building, located in an area that is very close to the university centres, and which the company hopes to renovate to create rental homes and convert the existing commercial premises into common areas, according to Expansión. In total, the building will have 23 homes, some of which are currently let out under the old rent system, whose tenants will be maintained by the British real estate company.

To give continuity to its business in Spain, Grosvenor will allocate more than €200 million to purchases, together with the Malaysian group Amprop, with which it has created a joint venture in the country. The group’s objective is to double its asset portfolio between now and 2022, according to James Raynor, CEO of Grosvenor, speaking to Eje Prime in an interview.

Grosvenor’s most ambitious plans in Spain include new purchases. The group, which has an office in Madrid and employs eight people in the country, has increased its investment capacity through its joint venture company with Amprop, created last year to build luxury apartments in Madrid, to €200 million.

The objective of the alliance with Amcorp is to back value-added investments, whereby assuming the associated risk but also receiving higher returns. The two groups have allocated a budget of €70 million for these types of projects, although they have reviewed the numbers thanks to the opportunities on offer in the Spanish market.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake