Greystar, PSP and Allianz buy Shoreditch student housing scheme for £160m
Property giant Greystar has led a consortium of buyers that has snapped up a student accommodation project in Shoreditch from investment firm Apache Capital for £160m.
Greystar, alongside partners Public Sector Pension (PSP) Investments and Allianz Real Estate, has exchanged contracts to acquire the Paul St. East development.
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The 458-bedroom student housing project is located in the heart of London’s tech quarter and close to Amazon’s sprawling UK headquarters.
The three firms said the acquisition, which is one of the largest in the history of the student accommodation sector, demonstrates their commitment to the UK and the ongoing appeal of London as a destination for overseas students.
The move is also a major boost for Greystar’s Chapter portfolio, which owns student accommodation across the capital. The firm has unveiled plans to increase the size of its portfolio to 10,000 student beds in the UK within five years.
Troy Tomasik, Greystar managing director of investments in the UK and Ireland, said: “Greystar is excited to be expanding the Chapter portfolio with another high-quality student accommodation asset in London, which remains the premier global city for international students with its world-class universities and higher education institutions.
“We strongly believe that Paul St. East has significant long-term potential through integrating the asset with our Chapter brand to offer students the exceptional services and experiential living enjoyed at Greystar’s other Chapter residences.”
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Apache said it will reinvest funds from the deal into its own build-to-rent pipeline with partner Moda Living, which owns 6,500 apartments in nine cities.
Apache chief executive John Dunkerley said: “The sale price of Paul St. East not only underlines the continued attractiveness of UK purpose-built student accommodation to institutional investors and the growing maturity of the sector as an asset class, but also shows the benefit of investing heavily in creating aspirational lifestyles for our residents through marketing, amenity provision and high-quality service.”