CA Ventures has entered the Iberian real estate market with a €200m commitment and has appointed Steven Zijl to lead its push in the new market.
The €12bn real estate investment company, which launched its European real estate platform in September last year, has named Zijl Spain and Portugal managing director.
Zijl joins from Eurostate Real Estate Partners, a private management company he founded in 2001.
CA Ventures said with the integration of Eurostate’s residential and student housing activities, CA Ventures has created direct access to an extensive local network of partners, market knowledge and a substantial pipeline of potential projects, where the first are being executed in 2020.
CA Ventures said it has committed to spending €200m a year in Spain and Portugal for purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) and build-to-rent projects.
The company is primarily focusing on university cities, including Madrid, Barcelona and Lisbon, as well as Valencia, Salamanca and Granada.
Carlo Matta, head of Europe, CA Ventures said: “Steven’s appointment reflects the latest move in our pan-European strategy to invest in the development of high quality, institutional grade assets in the PBSA and BTR sectors.
“With over twenty years of experience in the real estate sector and most importantly in Iberia, I am fully confident that Zijl will lead our push into a new market with enormous potential.”
Zijl said CA Ventures’ equity commitment for the next few years will create a dominant position in a market segment that is still in its infancy compared with the US.
“With a general lack of adequate student accommodation and a growing number of international students, we will very much be focused on creating value for all participants in the process, from domestic students to international talent, shareholders to universities and municipalities.
”Investing long term and developing high-quality schemes with cutting-edge amenities and superior management service will be the key drivers to our success.”
