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.”
