Harrison Street Real Estate, a major US investor in student accommodation, and Uliving have launched a joint venture to invest in UK student accommodation as they reach financial close on a new £40m development in Birmingham.
The site, Uliving’s first off-campus direct-led project, will include 435 student bedrooms and facilities including gyms, common room areas and a dance studio.
Harrison Street is the majority equity investor, with UBS Asset Management providing senior debt funding through its UBS Participating Real Estate Mortgage Fund.
Uliving will also provide equity and act as the developer and operator. Its partners Bouygues Energies & Services and Bouygues UK will provide facilities management and construction services.
Nicolas Guérin, executive chairman of Uliving, said: “It is exciting to have reached financial close on this project, which signals the start of our joint venture with Harrison Street and sees us developing our first off-campus, direct-led scheme.
“With its five universities and over 65,000 higher education students, Birmingham – Britain’s second largest city by population – is an increasingly attractive destination and the ideal location for this evolution in our product offering.”
Construction on the site will begin in April and is expected to be finished for the 2020/2021 academic year.
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