August 13, 2018HENDERSON PARK AND HINES ACQUIRE 750-BED STUDENT HOUSING DEVELOPMENT IN BARCELONA, SPAIN
London, 13 August 2018 – Henderson Park, the European real estate investment platform founded by Nick Weber, and Hines, the international real estate firm, announce that they have completed the acquisition of a site to develop a 750-bed student housing project in Barcelona, Spain.
This is Henderson Park and Hines’ second student accommodation investment together following an earlier project in Lancaster, UK, and forms part of their joint venture to pursue value-added opportunities in the sector across Europe.
Occupying half of a city block in the 22@ Innovation District on the edge of Barcelona’s desirable neighbourhood of Poblenou, the joint venture’s latest project will see the development of a 20,000 sqm, 750-bed student housing scheme, just 15 minutes’ walk from nearby university campuses. The JV is targeting to deliver the scheme for the 2021/2022 academic year.
The finished scheme, ‘Aparto Diagonal Mar’, will incorporate a range of shared amenities including a swimming pool, gym and sports facilities. Hines’ in-house operating platform, Aparto, will manage the asset once operational, to ensure an enhanced experience for its student residents.
Barcelona is one of Europe’s top student markets, home to two of Spain’s most prestigious universities, the University of Barcelona and Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, as well as several other internationally esteemed institutions. Despite a 186,000-student population, the city is characterised by a chronic undersupply of suitable accommodation options along with a clear absence of institutional new-build product, presenting an attractive entry opportunity for the joint venture.
Nick Weber, Founding Partner of Henderson Park, said: “The Spanish market, and Barcelona in particular, presents highly attractive supply and demand dynamics for an investment into the student accommodation sector, and we’ve identified a clear appetite for the kind of high quality purpose-built product we plan to deliver in this transforming neighbourhood of Barcelona. We are pleased to further extend our partnership with Hines as student housing is an asset class with compelling underlying fundamentals across a range of different European cities.”
Lars Huber, CEO of Hines Europe, said: “The fundamentals of Barcelona’s student housing market are very strong, with an undersupply of quality accommodation, despite the popularity of its universities.
22@ Innovation District is set to provide a memorable living experience and is the ideal location for our Aparto management platform, with its strong placemaking and community focus. This investment demonstrates our commitment to the student housing sector as we continue to look for opportunities in core cities across UK and Europe with growing and dynamic student populations.”
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MEDIA CONTACTS
For Henderson Park:
Richard Sunderland/Ellie Sweeney: +44 (0)20 3727 2293
For Hines:
Richard Stocks: +44 (0)20 3727 1487
NOTES TO EDITORS:
About Henderson Park. Henderson Park is a real estate investment platform which was launched by Nick Weber in late 2016 and has already built a $3.5 billion portfolio of landmark European real estate assets across four countries. Henderson Park is backed by three cornerstone investors: Stone Point Capital, Kuwait Investment Authority and Wafra Investment Advisory Group.
Henderson Park has been established to invest in European real estate, primarily targeting gateway cities and seeking investments in both assets and companies. Henderson Park will pursue opportunities across a wide variety of commercial real estate sectors.
Henderson Park is led by Nick Weber, its Founding Partner and CEO. Nick has over 20 years of real estate experience, including most recently as Head of Europe for Mount Kellett and previously at Goldman Sachs for 14 years, where he was a Partner and Co-Head of its European Special Situations Group.
About Hines. Hines is a privately owned global real estate investment firm founded in 1957 with a presence in 201 cities in 24 countries. Hines has approximately $111 billion of assets under management, including $60 billion for which Hines provides fiduciary investment management services, and $51 billion for which Hines provides third-party property-level services.
The firm has 108 developments currently underway around the world. Historically, Hines has developed, redeveloped or acquired 1,295 properties, totaling over 422 million square feet. The firm’s current property and asset management portfolio includes 506 properties, representing over 210 million square feet. With extensive experience in investments across the risk spectrum and all property types, and a pioneering commitment to sustainability, Hines is one of the largest and most-respected real estate organizations in the world.
Since entering Europe in 1991, Hines has grown its European platform to include a presence in 55 cities in 13 countries and Hines Europe currently has over €15.0 billion of assets under management in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Visit www.hines.com for more information about the firm and www.hinessustainability.com to learn more about the sustainability program and objectives at Hines.
