(LONDON) – Henderson Park, the European real estate investment platform founded by Nick Weber, and international real estate firm Hines have formed a joint venture to pursue value-added investments in the European student accommodation sector.
This is the second joint venture that Henderson Park and Hines have formed, following shortly after their acquisition of the Ledra Marriott hotel in central Athens in June.
The Joint Venture is embarking on its first project to develop a 630-bed student accommodation development in Lancaster in the UK. The new facility is currently under construction with completion in time for the 2019/2020 academic year.
Once complete, the scheme will incorporate a range of shared facilities including a roof level lounge, study library, gym and cinema space, creating an attractive and secure off-hub campus for students.
Lancaster University is one of the U.K.’s top ten universities and was recently named University of the Year in The Times Good University Guide 2018. With over 13,000 students at the university, including just over 3,000 from overseas, coupled with a very limited amount of professionally managed student accommodation away from the university campus, the city offers strong demand and supply fundamentals for student accommodation.
Earlier this year Hines launched a new in-house operating platform - aparto - to enhance the experience for its student residents. The combined Hines portfolio now comprises 13 student accommodation developments in the UK and Ireland, with a combined GDV of over ÂŁ500m.
Nick Weber, Founding Partner of Henderson Park, said: “This landmark development in Lancaster represents Henderson’s Park’s first entry into the student living market and the first for this new joint venture with Hines. Lancaster is one of the U.K.’s top universities and has a large and growing population of domestic and international students but an acute under supply of modern purpose built student accommodation, which this investment will help address. We now look forward to working with Hines to source further interesting opportunities for future investment in this sector across a range of different European cities, where we believe there are also compelling underlying fundamentals.”
Lars Huber, CEO of Hines Europe, said: “We are very committed to the student housing sector, and look forward to expanding our growing portfolio in other markets across Europe through this joint venture with Henderson Park. We will be identifying locations with a vibrant and dynamic student populations, working closely with Universities to help meet the increasing demand for high quality, well-managed accommodation.”
About Henderson Park
Henderson Park is a real estate investment platform, recently launched by Nick Weber. 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 21 countries. Hines has approximately $100 billion of assets under management, including $54.5 billion for which Hines provides fiduciary investment management services, and $45.5 billion for which Hines provides third-party property-level services. The firm has 113 developments currently underway around the world. Historically, Hines has developed, redeveloped or acquired 1,262 properties, totaling over 414 million square feet. The firm’s current property and asset management portfolio includes 529 properties, representing over 213 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 38 cities in ten countries and Hines Europe currently has €13.3 billion of assets under management in Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Visit www.hines.com for more information.
