(MILAN) - aparto, the student housing platform, is today launching in Italy with two new residences, aparto Milan Giovenale covering 16,339 square meters and aparto Milan Ripamonti spanning 24,557 square meters, scheduled for delivery during 2022.
aparto Milan Giovenale is the result of a long-standing partnership between Hines and Blue Noble, through a regulated fund that targets student housing and serviced apartments investments in Italy, managed by Savills Investment Management SGR. The building will open its doors in January 2022 and is located between Via Giovenale and Via Col Moschin, in close proximity to some of the city’s most renowned universities, including the prestigious University of Bocconi. This student accommodation will offer 584 beds spanning 5 different types – ensuite, twin, studio, studio premium and apartments - available for students to book for periods ranging from a few months up to one year. The site itself will provide state-of-the-art amenities including a gym and yoga studio, a cinema, outdoor areas with landscaped gardens, a basketball court, plenty of spaces for exercising, study rooms and laundry facilities. In addition, there will be a food and beverage offering, which will also open to non-residents. The furnishings will be another distinctive feature, designed by the British firm Carmody Groarke and produced by the Italian company Cesare Roversi, specialists in made-to-measure furniture.
In September 2022, aparto Milan Ripamonti will open which will expand Hines and Blue Noble’s student accommodation offering in Italy, adding a further 700 beds. The site is located near to Scalo Porta Romana, one of the most on-trend districts in the “new” Milan which is currently the subject of total urban redevelopment and the future location of the Olympic village for the Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026. The building was acquired by a regulated fund managed by Prelios SGR. The facilities on offer include: rooftop terraces and outdoor spaces, a café and restaurant, a modern gym and yoga studio, a cinema and games room, parking and bike storage, alongside laundry facilities.
Together, aparto Milan Giovenale and aparto Milan Ripamonti upon construction completion will be one of the first student accommodations in Italy with LEED Gold certification. This means both sites are designed and built to the highest standards of environmental sustainability and energy efficiency anywhere in the world. In addition, the experience program across both sites will include sports and wellness classes, cocktail and cooking classes, and a series of entertainment evenings where participants can make new friends and have fun together covering movie nights, sports matches and tournaments.
aparto, fully owned by Hines, is already a market-leading brand in the UK and Ireland providing award-winning purpose-built student accommodation with cutting edge facilities and a first-class experience program across 13 locations. It comes to Milan with the aim of revolutionizing the concept of student accommodation, thanks to a flexible model offering medium and/or long-term stays, an innovative vision of co-living and with all-inclusive rates. aparto is based on three core values so students really feel at home:
- Service - namely cutting-edge facilities and a sector-leading experience program, with expert friendly staff to provide residents with the best student experience in their new home-away-from-home
- Belonging - to a community of like-minded individuals in great surroundings that promote health and wellness
- Community - providing direct links with the public and local facilities in order to share ideas, create memories and host joint projects
The arrival of aparto in Italy represents the first step in a plan of wide-scale openings by Hines. With 13 student housing sites already up and running in the UK and Ireland, the brand is expanding into other countries in Southern Europe including Spain with two openings in Barcelona scheduled for 2022 and 2023. Italy will also see two further inaugurations during 2025 which will increase accommodation options for students in Milan, focusing on the Bovisa and Milano Sesto areas.
In the UK and Ireland, aparto has long been recognized as an exceptional provider of student accommodation, with a track record of outstanding support for students and the provision of a welcoming, communal atmosphere which empowers residents to get the most out of university. As a result, aparto has a market-leading Net Promoter Score (NPS) which is measured by the National Student Housing Survey in the UK. aparto’s NPS in the UK and Ireland is 79, with the average score for student accommodation elsewhere in the UK and Ireland standing at 1. In context, Apple has an NPS of 72 and is the highest in the electronics industry.
Mario Abbadessa, Senior Managing Director and Country Head of Hines, in Italy, said:
“With aparto, Hines introduces to the Italian market the international best practices in terms of student housing, with an unparalleled experience tried and tested in the UK and Ireland. This is based on the highest standards of quality, safety and sustainability, offering students and their families a unique, safe study experience in Milan, with high-value facilities that focus on the creation and enhancement of interpersonal relationships.
“With this launch, Hines cements its strategy of innovation and long-term investment by introducing a model in Italy that combines development and management of student housing with a range of accommodation solutions and facilities linked to accessible, all-inclusive fees that guarantee a quality stay, a unique, all-around experience and, importantly, cost predictability.”
Paul Forshaw, Founding Partner and CEO of Blue Noble, said:
“Blue Noble is pleased to announce the appointment of aparto to manage two of our highly prominent student residences in Milan. These projects, developed in conjunction with our long-standing partners Hines, are being built to the highest specification, offering first class facilities alongside leading standards of environmental sustainability and energy efficiency. It is essential that the outstanding quality of the physical developments with a commensurate level of customer experience. We are delighted by the appointment of aparto, an operator with a demonstrable track record of delivering an exceptional level of service.”
Tom Rix, Managing Director – Operations at aparto, UK added:
“It’s a significant milestone to launch our award-winning and market leading aparto product in Italy. There is strong demand high-quality student accommodation across the board and aparto aims to bridge that gap by providing first class facilities that students truly feel at home in. Testament to the amenities we provide, our expert on the ground teams who truly care for our residents, an-ongoing best-in-class experience programme that runs a calendar of events throughout the year, and the quality of our accommodation means students rate our facilities very highly which is backed by our market-leading net promoter scores.”
About aparto
aparto is Hines’ student accommodation platform, which comprises c100 staff running 13 sites across the UK and Ireland, and two newly launched sites in Italy. Its vision is to be the leading student living operator in Europe, with a special focus on great service and genuine community creation. The platform creates a residential experience tailored to each asset’s unique location including hosting on-site events and networking, operations and design services, a wide-range of amenity provision and extensive health and safety management.
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About Hines
Hines is a privately owned global real estate investment firm founded in 1957 with a presence in 255 cities in 27 countries. Hines oversees investment assets under management valued at approximately $83.6 billion¹. In addition, Hines provides third-party property-level services to more than 367 properties totaling 138.3 million square feet. Historically, Hines has developed, redeveloped or acquired approximately 1,486 properties, totaling over 492 million square feet. The firm has more than 171 developments currently underway around the world. With extensive experience in investments across the risk spectrum and all property types, and a foundational commitment to ESG, 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 offices in 16 cities as well as a presence in 62 cities in 13 countries. Hines oversees investment assets under management valued at approximately €21.7 billion and provides third-party property-level services totaling 3.9 million square meters in Europe, in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Visit www.hines.com for more information.
1. Includes both the global Hines organisation as well as RIA AUM as of 30 June 2021.
About Blue Noble
Blue Noble LLP (‘Blue Noble’) is an independent, full service real estate investment management company, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’). Blue Noble was founded in 2017 by a team of experienced real estate professionals, previously from HSBC Alternative Investments Limited.
Blue Noble offers specialist real estate investment management globally for both private and institutional investors through club deals, separate accounts and funds. Blue Noble has a substantial and diversified asset base along with significant equity capital to deploy.
Visit www.bluenoble.co.uk for more information about the firm.
