CORESTATE Group ('CORESTATE'), a specialist real estate investor based in Zug, Switzerland, announces it has acquired a 6,500 m² land plot in Vienna, Austria, for a 25,000 m² student accommodation-led development.
CORESTATE plans to develop a high-quality student housing scheme, with a projected market value after realization of approximately 80 mln, comprising more than 500 residential units. The completed development will feature numerous communal social spaces, as well as ample public areas, allowing residents to enjoy the community feel that the project intends to create.
The scheme will be well served by amenities including approximately 1,000 m² of retail commercial space to satisfy residents' needs. The concept also includes incubator space to provide high quality but low cost office accommodation to house start-up businesses from the WU Wien University. The asset will be operated by YOUNIQ, which owns, develops and operates approximately 3,500 student apartments in Germany across 13 locations.
Ralph Winter, Chairman and Founder of CORESTATE Capital:
"This project illustrates our appetite for unique investment situations across Europe. CORESTATE and its co-investors follow a strategy of creating value in the different stages of the life of assets and across varying asset classes. For the time being, the most compelling returns are found in niches only a limited number of professional investors have access to. We see immense potential for student housing projects in economically sound European countries.
"Vienna, with a student population of over 170,000, roughly 10% of its overall populace, and the WU with more than 25,000 enrolled students, generates a vast demand for student living space which cannot be met by public organizations and the residential market alone. These compelling market dynamics represent a perfect environment for CORESTATE's investment and for YOUNIQ's business model."
The property is part of the MESSECARREE urban development project and is located in direct proximity to the new campus of the Vienna University of Economics and Business (Wirtschaftsuniversität 'WU'), the Austria Center Vienna (ACV), the convention centre, and the renowned leisure and amusement park Prater.
MESSECARREE was conceived by PRISMA, a group of companies active in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, in collaboration with Wiener Messe Besitz GmbH, a member company of WIEN Holding. It is designed as an open urban quarter. The site is defined by an attractive working and business environment, high recreational quality, and excellent accessibility based on its location between the two underground stations 'Messe-Prater' and 'Krieau' of the metro line U2.
Source: FTI Consulting
