Global Student Accommodation has formed a joint venture with Nuveen Real Estate, acting on behalf of its parent company TIAA, to acquire the YouFirst Campus portfolio in France from Gecina for around €540m.
GSA said the partnership combined its global expertise in investing and managing student housing with Nuveen’s experience in real estate investment management.
The joint venture will acquire Gecina’s student housing portfolio comprising more than 3,600 beds across 18 operational assets in Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Marseille and Paris. The portfolio includes four development sites in Paris.
All properties are situated close to leading universities and Grandes Ecoles, including the Sorbonne, Sciences Po and ESCP, with good access to transport networks and retail amenities.
The partners said the portfolio was heavily weighted to Paris, securing a foothold in one of the most desirable European cities presents a significant opportunity to unlock strategic value, leverage economies of scale and target further growth.
Nuveen will act as investment advisor with GSA acting as asset manager. The properties will be operated by GSA’s global partner Yugo.
James Hunt, global head of real estate at GSA, said: “I am delighted to implement the next phase of GSA’s European growth strategy by entering the French student accommodation market with a specific focus on Paris. We are excited to partner with and work alongside Nuveen, a relationship which is underpinned by a strong alignment on the opportunity in France and signifies GSA’s position as the leader in student housing globally.
“The French market offers compelling opportunities, combining a large student base, driven by the country’s leading universities, and low provision rates of suitable student accommodation. The acquisition of Gecina’s YouFirst Campus portfolio is an excellent entry point into the region, bringing well-located prime assets that will benefit from our expertise and significant synergies providing real value from day one.”
Jasper Gilbey, head of housing and alternatives at Nuveen Real Estate, said: “Purpose-built student accommodation in continental Europe continues to be one of Nuveen’s highest conviction strategies – underpinned by low provision rates, a growing youth population and an increase in both domestic and international enrolment numbers. The French market encapsulates all these fundamentals but has historically been a challenging market to enter given the dominance of domestic capital.
“In this context, the unique opportunity to acquire a scaled platform like the YouFirst Campus portfolio is very compelling – a stabilised portfolio with a strong operational track record, identified development pipeline and heavy weighting towards the under-supplied Paris market. We look forward to partnering with sector specialist GSA to acquire the portfolio and collectively drive long-term value through active asset management.”
France has long been a target market for both GSA and Nuveen. It has the second largest European student population, with over 2.8 million students, 10% of whom are international, and a student housing provision rate of 8%. Paris is identified as one of GSA and Nuveen’s most attractive European locations, with some of the world’s leading universities and constrained student housing provision rates of just 5%.
Nuveen and GSA said the partnership was “a strategic building block for both businesses across Europe and will accelerate both GSA and Nuveen’s growth strategies”.
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