Clearbell has acquired six purpose-built student accommodation sites in Aberdeen, near both the University of Aberdeen and Robert Gordon University, providing 1,050 rooms.
The privately owned real estate fund management and advisory business received a £36m loan from OakNorth Bank to aid the acquisition and also to refinance its 809-room Southampton PBSA community, Lucia Foster Welch (pictured).
The Southampton site was recently refurbished by Clearbell and spans six buildings. It is next to the city’s popular mixed-use Ocean Village development, a short walk from Solent University and four miles from the University of Southampton’s main campus.
All seven sites will be managed by Iceni Property Asset Management.
Deepesh Thakrar, senior director of debt finance at OakNorth Bank, said: “Clearbell is a strong business with ambitious plans. Its funding requirements gave us another opportunity to work with a high-quality institutional investor once again, as well as a very experienced student operator in Iceni Property.
“The student accommodation sector was heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic; however, we are now seeing large university towns and cities bouncing back strongly, following evidenced uptake for the coming student year, as the market returns to normal with in-person lectures and seminars.”
Matthew McAdden, founding director and chief executive of Iceni Property, added: “The assets in Aberdeen and Southampton are in excellent locations for students attending the cities’ universities, and we fully expect demand for them to be high. With student numbers increasing across the board, the team will be playing an important role in managing highly sought-after PBSAs in two of the UK’s popular student destinations.”
To send feedback, e-mail akanksha.soni@eg.co.uk or tweet @AkankshaEG or @EGPropertyNews
