Bouwfonds European Student Housing fund has closed its first three acquisitions in Germany, the UK and the Netherlands. The total investment volume amounts to €68.7 million. The Fund is open for new investors that want to participate in the second closing of the Fund.
In the United Kingdom, the fund acquired a student residence on the former Gateway Theater scheme in Edinburgh with in total 140 apartments. These represent a total of 170 beds allocated to studios, 2-bed and 3-bed cluster flats, which are all en suite. More than 60,000 students study in Edinburgh, which has three Universities of which Edinburgh University enjoys the highest ranking in the top 100 universities of the world.The seller is a joint venture partner from London, Cornwall Property Partners and Kitty Hawk Capital Partners LLP. The investment volume amounts to €20.4 million.
In the Netherlands, a property of almost 9,000 m² has been acquired on Van Heenvlietlaan 220 in Amsterdam. The building dates from 1975 and has been used as an office building up to now, but it will be converted to student housing in the course of this year. After the rebuilding, the property will consist of 354 studios with an average size of approx. 24 m², each with its own kitchen and bathroom. All floors can be reached by lift and the property will have space for approx. 54 cars. The city of Amsterdam is one of the most attractive university cities in the Netherlands and has two universities and several colleges. The investment volume amounts to €26 million and the vendor is Amsterdam City Pads B.V. The construction company is Kondor Wessels, a subsidiary of Volker Wessels, which is the second largest construction company in the Netherlands.
In Germany, the fund acquired a property of approx. 9,300 m² on August-Bebel-Strasse 17A-C in Dresden, where the university enjoys “elite status”. The building is currently under construction and will be completed in autumn 2014. On completion, the property will consist of 336 appartments with separate kitchens and bathrooms and floor space ranging from 19 to 33 m². All units can be reached by lift and the property will provide space for 66 cars. The total investment volume amounts to € 22.3 million. The vendor is A-B 17 Project GmbH.
Bouwfonds European Student Housing Fund
In response to the sustained quantitative and qualitative shortage of student halls of residence in Europe, and building on Bouwfonds IM’s experience in this sector, Bouwfonds IM launched the Bouwfonds European Student Housing Fund in 2013. The Fund, with a target fund volume of € 200 – 300 million, is open for new investors who want to participate. “We see strong interest in student housing and our first acquisitions and pipeline of investments show that we bring our customers good quality stock in those pan-European markets where the academic ranking is high and the total education costs over the full cycle - expressed in housing costs and academic fees - are low, in line with our investment strategy", says Xavier Jongen, Fund Director Bouwfonds European Residential Funds. This real estate special fund (in accordance with the German Investment Act InvG) brings a further investment product to the residential real estate market. The fund has a “core” risk profile and offers investors a rate of return (IRR) of 5.5% to 6.5% at a maximum proportion of debt finance of 40%. A European investment strategy is pursued, with acquisitions in well-established university towns and cities.
Source: Bouwfonds
