Unite embarks on £75m refurbishment strategy

Unite Students has invested £32m to refurbish 11 projects this year, and said it intends to spend £50-£75m each year over the next five years on its refurbishment strategy. The schemes the developer has refurbished this year include: the 862-bed Stapleton House in north London, N7, on which Unite spent £1.5m to upgrade its amenity spaces; Cedar House, a 102-bed scheme in Unite’s student village in Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter, which underwent a £2.6m refurbishment of its bedrooms, bathrooms and amenity spaces; and the firm’s Thurso Street scheme, located opposite the University of Glasgow’s West End campus, which was given an £8m refurbishment.  Other refurbishment projects include Angel Lane, North Lodge, Olympic Way and Station Court (pictured) in London, Rosalind Franklin Halls in Portsmouth, Oak Brook Park in Birmingham, Rushford Court in Durham and Kyle Park House in Glasgow. In a separate strategy, Unite has filed plans in Bristol and Southampton to demolish its existing student assets and rebuild on the same site. The firm’s 217-bed  Waverley House scheme on Crow Lane in Bristol city centre was converted from office space in the 1990s. The site comprises a six-storey, vacant car park straddled by a 16-storey tower. In August, Unite submitted plans to demolish the building and car park and deliver a new 18-storey tower with 507 beds, community and commercial space.  In September, Unite filed plans to demolish Mercury Point, its 560-bed scheme at 20 Duke Street, Southampton. The proposed development will replace the existing premises with two blocks containing 810 beds connected by an elevated outdoor terrace.  Joe Lister, Unite Students chief executive, said: “We are proud of the investment into these properties, which reaffirms our commitment to provide high-quality, affordable accommodation that offers a Home for Success for the talented residents who live with us.  “These high standards provide an environment for our residents to thrive and we will be investing in our properties as part of our portfolio improvement programme, and record development pipeline, also helping to meet rising student demand while easing housing shortages by freeing up existing homes for local families.”  Image © Unite Students