Nuveen Real Estate has taken its €2bn flagship core European fund into housing for the first time with a €100m forward commitment to acquire a student-accommodation development in Copenhagen.
The open-ended European Cities vehicle, launched in 2016, has agreed to buy Campus, a 390-unit building that is due to be completed in two years’ time.
It will be the 15th acquisition for the fund and the first investment in Copenhagen.
Campus, which will have 16,500sqm of space across seven floors, is located in the heart of the city adjacent to the University of Copenhagen’s largest campus and close to the IT University of Copenhagen.
It will also feature a cinema, gym, café and rooftop terraces.
Liz Sworn, fund manager at Nuveen Real Estate, said: “Campus offers an exciting opportunity for the European Cities strategy to diversify its portfolio by committing to what will be a high-quality and ideally located asset upon its completion.
“For our first investment into the housing sector, we chose a project that offered an excellent location as well as strong tenant demand.
“The Nordics has high levels of its population entering higher education, while the availability of private student accommodation is constrained, particularly for a property with this standard of specification.”
Michael Keogh, research director for Nuveen Real Estate, said: “Housing continues to be a key area of growth across Europe. Although we anticipate some short-term headwinds for the student accommodation sector due to the pandemic, we expect that by 2022, when the project is completed, the market will have adjusted and there will be strong demand.
“Copenhagen has many of the key attributes that we look for in the student housing market, further buoyed by the financial support that the government provides to EU students. We believe that the strength of the asset’s location, opposite the university campus, and its high-specification finish curated to the evolving needs of the student, will future-proof demand.”
Campus is being developed by Bach Gruppen, one of Denmark’s largest privately owned real estate developers.
Anders Bo Bach, CEO of Bach Gruppen Copenhagen, said: “Campus forms part of the larger masterplan for the Bryggens Bastion area on Islands Brygge that we have developed over several years.
“Bryggens Bastion will contain open spaces and a green pathway, vegetation on facades, bicycle routes, two high-rise buildings, a water space with the function of climate protection and built-in bicycle lifts.
“With Campus we have had a strong emphasis on integrating modern community-driven city-life for students with green awareness.”
