International Campus AG, acting as a part of a joint venture with Karlín Group, has acquired a project development in the Holešovice district of Prague with 529 high-quality apartments for students. It has been agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The building that is to become “THE FIZZ Prague” will have a gross floor area above the ground level of 16,529 m² over eight floors. The opening is planned for the first quarter 2020.
International Campus and Karlín Group each hold 50% in the joint venture. On completion of the property by Karlín Group, International Campus will acquire its partner’s share of the joint venture and place the property in a dedicated special fund for institutional investors.
Horst Lieder, CEO of International Campus AG, said: “Our first acquisition in Prague sees us continuing our European expansion at a rapid pace. This is our first step to the Czech Republic, and we are taking it together with our expert local partner. Together, we intend to create 2,500 attractive apartments for students in Prague in the medium term. We are also in the process of acquiring additional properties in Central and Central Eastern European hot spots.”
Serge Borenstein, president of Karlín Group, added: "A strong partner who has been operating many such enterprises in Europe will help us bring to life our long-term goal, which is not only to bring this student-housing project – very interesting investment-wise – to the Prague market but also build more of them in the coming years. This goes hand in hand with Karlín Group's long-term strategy. We have spent a few years studying such projects in other countries, and we also acquired know-how by actively participating in the Class of 2020, an international network of student-housing operators, investors, and developers.”
Located close to the Holešovice underground station, “THE FIZZ Prague” enjoys excellent public transport connections. The nearest underground and metro station is in a minute's walk, the international train station is three minutes away. The university can be reached by public transport in 20 minutes. The property has spacious communal areas with kitchens, a rooftop terrace with barbecue, two movie rooms, outdoor sports areas, a large multi-function hall, study rooms, fitness area, rentable bicycles and a publicly accessible restaurant on the ground floor. All the apartments will have their own high-speed WLAN-router and secure individual Internet access. The basement floor will have 71 parking spaces for tenants.
The Czech capital has around 146,000 students enrolled at 34 universities and colleges. Around 25,000 of these come from abroad.
