A partnership consisting of Amro Partners, IP Investment Management (IPIM) and Heed Capital has acquired a new €30m GDV purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) project in Valencia, on Spain’s south-eastern coast.
The project will deliver 221 new student beds on a circa 2,000m² site just outside the city centre, in newly regenerated Avenida del Puerto, a major avenue within walking distance of five universities: European University of Valencia, University of Valencia, University Polytechnic of Valencia, University Catholic of Valencia and International University of Valencia.
Featuring extensive shared modern facilities including a swimming pool, gym, rooftop terrace, green spaces, canteen and study rooms, the development will target maximum ESG credentials including BREEAM Outstanding, Fitwel 3, and WiredScore platinum certifications. In addition, following Amro’s NZC2025 pledge, the scheme will seek Passivhaus status making it one of the most sustainable new buildings in Spain, and indeed continental Europe, on completion in early 2026.
In addition, in December 2022, the partnership closed €7.5m development financing with Alteralia Real Estate Debt, a fund managed byAlantra, to finance the development of its student housing project in Porto, Portugal. The Porto project is set to open in January 2024, in time for the second semester start of the 2024/25 academic year. The 151-bed BREEAM Outstanding-rated asset will be operated under the Amro Estudiantes brand.
Raj Kotecha, Co-Founder and CEO of Amro Partners said: “We are delighted to undertake our third transaction with IPIM. This is the first of several acquisitions we expect to announce in the coming months as we scale up our presence in the European PBSA sector. The Iberian student housing market remains structurally undersupplied and despite challenging market conditions we’re continuing to see attractive investment opportunities in cities such as Valencia where demand is strong and growing.”
Selina Williams, Executive Director of IPIM said: “We are thrilled to have acquired the Valencia development site as it is a rare opportunity for us to expand into a tier one Spanish PBSA market in which we have a strong conviction. The project’s prime location and proposed design will add a premium PBSA development to our growing portfolio of Iberian assets. We continue to see opportunity in the PBSA sector in both Spain and Portugal and expect this to be the first of several acquisitions for us in 2023.”
Joaquim Luiz Gomes, Founder and Managing Director of Heed Capital said: “The attractiveness of the Valencian market, coupled with the characteristics of the site just acquired, allowed us the meet our strict investment criteria. The ability of our partnership spanning two continents to complete this acquisition and to push forward the Oporto development make us confident of being able to achieve even better results in the future.”
