Nuveen Real Estate has teamed up with Iberian property developer Kronos to develop €1bn worth of build-to-rent (BTR) homes in Spain.

The companies said the newly created venture has been seeded with an initial €250m portfolio with a further €325m worth of assets expected to be added in the coming months. In total, the joint venture expects to invest €1bn to develop a 5,000-unit portfolio of BTR across Spain.

Kronos will act as the development and property manager via its subsidiary BTR subsidiary STAY. The venture will operate under STAY brand.

Marta Cladera de Codina, head of Iberia for Nuveen Real Estate, said: “The build-to-rent sector in Spain is critically undersupplied and lacking in good quality stock. Coupling this with current constraints on mortgages, changing demographics and a growing consumer preference for flexibility, location and prime modern rental offerings means the development of these new units is crucial for the Spanish residential market at present.

“The housing market is still emerging in Spain, so by committing to this pipeline now we can be one of the first institutional investors to build a platform of scale in this area.”

Saïd Hejal, CEO of Kronos, said: “Having studied the US and Northern European rental markets over the past two years, we are very excited to partner with Nuveen to launch the STAY platform, which will deliver these best-in-class features to the BTR sector.”

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