Global capital is increasingly targeting Europe’s student housing market, with international investment managers partnering with local operators to capture rising demand for modern student accommodation.
In Italy, global alternative asset manager King Street has joined forces with Italian manager Kryalos to launch Domo, a new student housing fund focused on Italian purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) assets.
The platform has already secured two development projects in Milan and Padua that are expected to deliver approximately 880 beds, for an investment estimated at around €150m.
According to Paolo Bottelli, CEO of Kryalos, the investments reflect “strong interest in the student housing sector, a segment with attractive growth prospects, supported by long-term demographic and structural trends”.
The student housing sector grew to represent over 50% of Italy’s living investment for the first time last year, according to data from Colliers. PBSA investment in particular rose 63% year-on-year to €520m in 2025.
In Germany, JP Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM) has formed a new joint venture with iLive Group to develop a €1.5bn PBSA portfolio across major cities, including Frankfurt and Berlin. The latest partnership expands the European managed living platform of JPMAM, which has recently completed transactions also in France and Spain.
| Recently completed deals | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asset | Asset type | Location | Buyer | Vendor | Size | Price (mln) | Key facts |
| NPL portfolio | debt | Europe | Arrow Global, Fortress Investment | CPP Investments | NA | C$1000 (€620) | The sale is consistent with CPP Investments’ broader strategy in European structured credit to focus on scalable, capital-efficient opportunities across asset-backed finance, direct lending, and other core credit strategies. |
| European Residential REIT | corporate | Europe | Capreit | Shareholders | NA | $440 (€374) | Prior to the transaction, CAPREIT held approximately 65% of ERES and it now owns 100%. |
| three rental housing projects | living | Sweden | Hemvist | JM | 304units | €103 | The projects are expected to be completed between 2027 and 2029. |
| Settimo Cielo Retail Park | retail | Turin | Ares, Eurofund | Gruppo Building | 80,000m2 | €77 | The purchase was carried out through a fund managed by Kryalos Sgr. |
| 50% stake in Aqua Portimão | retail | Algarve, Portugal | Klépierre | Generali Immobiliare | 35,500m2 | €59 | The group estimates that this acquisition will generate a near-double-digit return on investment from the first year. |
| two logistics assets | logistics | Madrid, Barcelona | NA | Milepro Logística Última Milla SOCIMI | NA | €43 | The Spanish REIT is managed by Azora and was established together with Indosuez Wealth Management. |
| B&B Hotels property | hotel | Luxembourg | Aberdeen | Nextensa and Promobe | 150 rooms | €37 | Aberdeen Investments is acting on behalf of Irish Life Investment Managers. |
| automated e-grocery distribution centre | logistics | Warsaw | Corum XL | Panattoni | 18,300m2 | €30 | The asset is fully leased under a long-term, 15-year agreement. |
| five logistics assets | logistics | Poland | Ares Management Corporation | Savills IM | 284,000m2 | NA | The 94% leased portfolio spans five assets in Warsaw, Poznan, Upper Silesia and Szczecin. |
| Phase II at Farington Park | logistics | Farington, North West England | Arrow Capital Partners and Cerberus Capital Management | Caddick Developments | 96,000sqft | NA | The project marks the final phase of the 50-acre Farington Park site, following the completion of over 550,000sqft of industrial space in 2023. |
| five resi assets | living | Frankfurt am Main, Düsseldorf, Cologne and Bonn | Tikehau Capital, Forte | MEAG | 24,100m2 | NA | Tikehau Capital is making the investment through its pan-European value-add real estate strategy. |
| Storkower Straße 133 | office | Berlin | The BlueRock Group | Schroder Real Estate | 16,500m2 | NA | The building is fully leased to the Berlin Pankow Job Center. |
| WestSide residential project | living | Munich | Tishman Speyer | Bauwens | 104 units | NA | Tishman is making the purchase on behalf of a German pension fund. |
| Two Parc Central office building | office | Barcelona | Tishman Speyer and Freo Group | Värde Partners | 24,210m2 | NA | The new owners plan to implement a capex programme. |
| 67-73 Chancery Lane | mixed | London | HIH Invest | Unnamed family trust | 7,230m2 | NA | The sole office tenant is the global engineering and environmental consultancy WSP. |
| York Designer Outlet and East Midlands Designer Outlet | retail | UK | Frasers Group | Aviva Investors | 420,000sqft | NA | The two retail centres include a total of 185 shops. |
| six properties | mixed | Helsinki, Espoo and Turku | ICECAPITAL Real Estate Club I Ky | the Seafarers’ Pension Fund | 27,000m2 | NA | The acquired properties include a shopping centre in Tapiola, as well as a recently and thoroughly refurbished office property in central Helsinki. |
| Power Park Kielce | retail | Kielce, Poland | BIG | EPP | 37,000m2 | NA | Tenants include large retailers such as Auchan, Media Markt, OBI, Decathlon, Jula, JYSK, and TEDi. |
| Forettle Center Kaufbeuren | retail | Bavaria, Germany | Redevco | Nuveen | 10,600m2 | NA | The property is 98% let. |
| Assets on the market | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asset | Asset type | Location | Vendor | Size | Price (mln) | Broker | Key facts |
| 25 Cabot Sq | office | London | Link REIT | 41,600m2 | £160 (€185) | NA | The asset is occupied by Morgan Stanley. |
| Frascati Centre | retail | Dublin | Invesco | 12,000m2 | £80 (€93) | NA | The centre in Blackrock was first offered for around €100m in 2023. |
| two Mercure Hotels | hotel | Northampton and Essex | Frogmore and C1 | NA | £19 (€22) | Knight Frank | The hotels have been listed for sale individually, but the vendor would also consider portfolio offers. |
| Horseferry Road headquarter building | office | London | Channel 4 | 15,000m2 | NA | NA | The broadcaster is planning a short-term sale-and-leaseback. |
| Recently completed loans | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lender(s) | Borrower(s) | Asset(s) | Loan Size (mln) | Key facts |
| MUFG | Blackstone | iQ Student Accommodation portfolio | £562 (€650) | The funding will be used to refurbish nine UK purpose-built iQ sites with more than 3,600 beds. |
| Doha Bank, Mashreq Corporate & Investment Banking Group, Standard Chartered and United Overseas Bank | Qatari Diar | Grosvenor Square Rosewood hotel | £450 (€521) | The hotel project is the redevelopment of the former US Embassy on Grosvenor Square in Mayfair. |
| Standard Chartered | Dominus and Cheyne | London Fleet Street PBSA scheme | £250 (€290) | The development loan will fund construction of the scheme, which is already underway. |
| Pbb | Ares Real Estate Management | Italian logistics portfolio | €86 | The financing is granted for the purchase of the portfolio as well as planned capex. |
| Maslow Capital | Audley | Maidstone residential scheme | £36 (€42) | The senior development loan will support the delivery of a 172-unit residential-led scheme in central Maidstone, Kent. |
| Maslow Capital | Dunas | Alma Meco logistics project | €40 | The facility provides Dunas Capital Real Estate with a controlling position in the development area. |
| Pbb | AYA Properties Fund | Sienna Center Office Building in Warsaw | €36 | The investment and VAT loan facilities will finance the acquisition of an office building located in the Wola District of Warsaw. |
| Aldermore | Highcross Street Holdings | Leicester BTR scheme | £28 (€32) | The loan will refinance a newly completed build-to-rent scheme in Leicester city centre. |
| Deutsche Hypo | Family office | Max & Moore in Amsterdam-Noord | €25.5 | The modern office property comprises 9,800m2 of office space. |
| New mandates/JVs and funds on the market | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Firm | Fund/mandate/JV | Strategy | Details |
| iLive, JPMAM | German student housing venture | Developing a student accommodation portfolio across major German cities | The platform has already secured initial sites in Frankfurt and Berlin, comprising approximately 1,000 beds. |
| Aermont Capital | Real Estate fund VI | Opportunistic real estate fund targeting investments across Western Europe and focusing on proactive, operator-oriented strategies. | The fund raised €200m of fresh equity from the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System |
| Kryalos, King Street Capital Management | Domo fund | Investing in the Italian student housing sector | The fund has agreed to forward purchase two student housing projects in Milan and in Padua. |
