Round Hill Capital and NBK Capital funds have acquired a 368-bed student accommodation development in Ireland.

The unnamed funds have bought The Liberties area site of Dublin 8 from Summix for an €85m development project.

The development is located on the former Brewery Block site adjacent to Newmarket Square. Construction of the new development, which will commence in July 2020, will integrate a five-storey red brick tower and the façade of the now derelict warehouses that currently occupy part of the site.

Nido Student will manage the development.

This is Round Hill’s third student accommodation investment in Ireland, following the acquisition of a 145-bed development on Farranlea Road in Cork in December 2018. Round Hill has also invested in a 216-unit apartment development called Bridgefield in Santry, Dublin 9.

The firm currently has under development over 7,000 apartments and student accommodation beds in the UK, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, the Netherlands and Ireland.

Michael Bickford, founder and CEO at Round Hill Capital, said: “Round Hill Capital has an 18-year track record of successfully investing in, developing and operating residential and student accommodation assets across Europe and we are pleased to have acquired this prime 368-bed purpose-built student accommodation development project in Dublin, Ireland, which is well-located within the Newmarket regeneration area.

“We recognise that areas of the student and residential housing markets in Ireland suffer from persisting structural supply constraints and we look forward to helping alleviate these pressures and significantly further expanding Round Hill Capital’s business in Ireland and across Europe.”

John Vaudin, managing director at Round Hill Capital (Ireland), said: “There is an acute need for more purpose-built student accommodation in the Irish market and this development in Dublin 8 will help to meet that need.

“We have designed an attractive new building that will complement its surroundings and regenerate a derelict location into a vibrant home for students. We will continue to build up a significant portfolio in Ireland, where we anticipate investing significant capital over the next five years.”

Faisal Al-Hamad, CEO of NBK Capital, said: “Dublin is an attractive city with quality higher education institutes, and we are pleased to be able to play a part in developing and supporting the local and wider community.”

Niamh O’Connor, partner at Summix, said: “We are delighted to partner with Round Hill Capital once more in addressing the undersupply of quality purpose-built student accommodation in Ireland whilst breathing new life into this iconic part of Dublin.

“We look forward to building on our successful track record in the region with our existing projects in Galway and our active pipeline of new opportunities across Ireland.”

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