Barings has acquired a plot of land for the development of its first purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) scheme in Italy, completing on a brownfield site in Rome, on behalf of its second European real estate value-add fund (BREEVA II).
Purchased through an Italian real estate fund managed by Savills IM SGR, Barings has acquired the 25,000 m2 site from an Italian company that is owned by BNL BNP Paribas. Financial details were not disclosed.
The disused site in the east of the city centre has planning permission for the development of a new PBSA scheme of 8,000 m2, consisting of 270 studio rooms and amenity spaces including tennis and padel courts. Barings will target LEED Gold accreditation, while minimising carbon emissions over the life-cycle of the project.
With demolition of the site’s existing unused buildings already underway and a specialist student housing operator set to be appointed in the coming months, the development’s first residents are expected to move in in time for the 2026/27 academic year.
The scheme at Via Umberto Partini is well connected to Rome’s public transport system, with easy access to several bus and tram lines (lines 545, 163 and 409), with La Sapienza University – continental Europe’s largest institution with 110,000 students – just 15 minutes away by bus. It is also within walking distance from Tiburtina, the high-speed railway station and the second largest train station in Rome.
While the deal marks Barings’ first investment in PBSA in Italy, student housing has been among its preferred sectors across Europe on behalf of BREEVA II and other investment strategies, including the recent forward-funding of an asset in Manchester, UK, on behalf of a pan-European strategy for core property.
Marco Corti, managing director and country head Italy at Barings Real Estate, said: 'Given that PBSA is a relatively immature asset class in Italy which benefits from favourable and long-term tailwinds, we identified this scheme as an excellent opportunity to fulfil long-held plans to enter the country’s student housing market.'
Gunther Deutsch, managing director and head of European Transactions at Barings Real Estate, added: 'PBSA is currently one of the most sought-after real estate asset classes and we are keen to expand our exposure in this sector across Europe alongside our already strong logistics and residential holdings.'
In recent years Barings has been acquiring a couple of value add PBSA schemes in the UK, and the focus is now set on other countries in which the group invests like the Nordics, Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain. 'We like to partner/JV with developers and operators at an early stage to help our partners to secure the land, providing overall higher returns to our investors. We also continue to be on the lookout for residential opportunities like build to rent or build to sell,' commented Deutsch.
