Swedish pension fund Alecta has acquired Campus Södermalm, an education property development in Stockholm that will house four further-education ‘upper secondary’ schools.
The development, which is due to be completed by the middle of next year, was bought by EQT Exeter in 2018 when it was a half-vacant, mixed-use property comprising a school and office space.
EQT Exeter has since obtained a building permit to expand Hönsfodret 1 from about 9,500sqm of lettable space to more than 14,000sqm and signed a 16-year lease with with education provider AcadeMedia.
The investment was made on behalf of EQT Real Estate Fund I, having identified a “particularly high” need for modern educational-use assets in central Stockholm “due to the city’s demographic development and rapidly increasing population”.
Campus Södermalm, which is still being completed by building contractor Zengun, will host four upper-secondary schools for approximately 2,200 students, ready for the 2022/23 academic year.
EQT Exeter said it had prioritised environmentally-friendly building techniques and incorporated sustainability features, including recycling of construction materials, efficiency improvements via real-time energy usage monitoring and upgrades to the building fabric to improve its thermal performance.
Campus Södermalm will promote healthy lifestyles with prominence of stairwells over elevators, a gym and conversion of former car parking to bicycle parking spaces. There will also be a publicly-accessible, student-operated café, bakery and restaurant on the ground floor.
Henrik Orrbeck, partner within EQT Exeter’s advisory team, said: “We are proud to hand over the property to Alecta after a successful transformation project where we have turned a half-vacant building with poor energy performance into a flagship ‘green’ campus that meets modern demands for attractive and inspiring education premises.
“This transaction perfectly exemplifies the investment philosophy of EQT’s real estate platform, EQT Exeter, using our value-creation toolbox to deliver a core building into the highly sought-after institutional real estate market of Sweden.”
Jenny Lindholm, CIO at Alecta Fastigheter, said: “We are very pleased with this acquisition; it’s completely in line with our ambition to drive sustainable and long-term development in attractive growth areas.
“This state-of-the-art educational property that will meet the standards for BREEAM In-Use ‘Very Good’ certification further strengthens our position within the community service segment.
“We look forward to working closely with the tenant, Academedia, and together develop the environment for the four schools that will move in next year.”
