BNP Paribas has written a €140 mln loan for Brookfield-backed UXCO Group which will extend UXCO’s flagship student/co-living scheme in Paris to more than 1,800 beds.
Known as the Ecla Campus at Massy Palaiseau, UXCO bought the original phase shortly after completion in 2018, from Harrison Street.
The new loan will refinance this phase, which comprises 1,300 beds, and provide debt capital to acquire adjoining land to build a further 550 beds. The original lender on phase one was Goldman Sachs.
UXCO’s development company, Océanis, will carry out the next phase of the project which UXCO says will make the residence the largest purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) asset in continental Europe when it is completed in 2023.
The campus is 30 minutes from central Paris and serves students at the University of Paris-Saclay with about 70% of students coming from abroad. The new phase is located directly opposite the existing Ecla buildings and will be connected by a residents’ courtyard.
Jacques-Edouard Charret, president of UXCO Group, and CEO Emmanuel Pariente are pursuing a ‘mega residence’ model since acquisition by Brookfield. The company has specialised in the student and co-living sector for 15 years and operates 50 residences in France.
The aim is to invest more than €1 bn in its French PBSA platform by 2023, developing out its pipeline to reach a total of over 18,000 beds under operation by 2025, compared to 7,500 in October 2021.
BNP has been a lender to the developer/operator since the Ecla brand was created in 2018.
