The Social Hub, a €2.2bn (£1.9bn) hybrid living developer and operator, is looking to invest €300m in the UK and is hunting for obsolete offices to redevelop.
The Netherlands-headquartered company’s schemes combine purpose-built student accommodation, hotels and co-working uses. It has 23 sites across Europe, with one UK scheme in Glasgow.
Its UK venture is backed by APG and GIC. The duo funded the £90m Glasgow scheme at 15 Candleriggs, comprising 494 rooms and co-working space.
Charlie MacGregor, founder and chief executive, told EG the company wants up to five schemes in the UK with roughly 500 rooms per project.
It is searching for 150,000-200,000 sq ft of distressed office sites with potential for redevelopment in cities including Edinburgh, Manchester and London.
MacGregor said: “We initially grew the business out of the great financial crisis, rapidly taking advantage of lower property and construction prices. Property prices are still fairly high, but they’re slowly coming down in the office sector.
“Construction prices are pretty resilient and of course, you’ve got higher cost of financing. So, we expect there to be quite an adjustment in land values on the office sector that we can take advantage of.”
Photo © The Social Hub
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