Edmond de Rothschild Real Estate Investment Management (REIM) has completed the acquisition of its second build-to-rent residential development, the €68.8m (£60m) Merlin Wharf in the Waterside regeneration area of Leicester. The development, located in Bath Lane by the River Soar, comprises 384 one and two-bed apartments, designed by Leicester-based architect, Staniforth. It was forward funded by the Edmond de Rothschild Residential Investment Fund UK, which invests in the private rented sector (PRS) on behalf of European institutional investors and completed at the end of last month.
Tim Holden, co-head of residential in the UK and director of residential development and asset management at Edmond de Rothschild REIM, said: “We are delighted to have completed the fund’s first build-to-rent investment. Leicester has a high demand for affordable new build-to-rent accommodation in line with the fund’s strategy. Its population is forecast to grow at a rate in excess of the national average, while the current supply of rental stock in Leicester is limited and relatively dated”.
