Urbanite puts PBSA portfolio up for sale for £130m

Urbanite Living is aiming to sell a portfolio of five freehold purpose-built student accommodation assets for £130m. The Leeds-based developer has instructed Gerald Eve to market the portfolio, which offers a combined 999 beds across Leeds, York, Sheffield and Glasgow. The portfolio consists of a mix of existing operational assets and new-build schemes due for occupation during 2024. It collectively generates £7.5m of net rent, with more than half of the beds already under nomination agreements of a minimum of three to five years  with local universities.  Locations include the Coal Yard in York, which has 189 en suite cluster and studio spaces; the Electric Press in Sheffield, which has 125 flats; and Clyde Court in Glasgow, which will provide 169 bedrooms when works are completed. In Leeds, an operational asset called the Leatherworks has 460 cluster bedrooms, while a scheme at 26 Great George Street is under construction and will provide 54 studio bedrooms by the end of the year. Facilities at all five schemes include study lounges, cinemas, gyms, on-site cafés, social media studios, gaming lounges and tech-enabled meeting rooms. Urbanite said it has developed the portfolio over the past five years and is now selling the assets to recycle capital into its next ventures. These include plans to deliver a £400m regeneration scheme on the former Yorkshire Post Newspapers site in Leeds (pictured). It is also exploring land sale and forward funding options to deliver up to 1,700 student beds and 348 build-to-rent apartments on the site. Urbanite was founded by friends Daniel Newett and Timothy Smith in their late 20s. They said in a joint statement: “Our investments have been well considered in providing much-needed purpose-built student accommodation in prime locations where demand consistently outweighs supply. “Urbanite is a young and dynamic team, always poised with the capital support to deliver sustainable real estate with long-term value. We are looking forward to selling this prime investment opportunity to support our next series of exciting development projects.” Alexander Kitts, associate partner at Gerald Eve, said: “The student housing market is highly resilient, as demonstrated by its counter-cyclical nature with student numbers growing at record rates across the nation. Subsequently, PBSA is underpinned by a strong occupational market, which continues to attract a wide range of investors.” Urbanite received equity backing from Prescient Capital in 2022, forming a £1bn partnership with the stated aim of delivering more than 6,500 student beds within a circa five-year time frame. Image © DLA Architecture