Global investment management firm CA Ventures and alternative real assets specialist Harrison Street have formed a joint venture and inked a deal to bring a 623-bed purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) scheme to Cork, Ireland.
The property will be managed by CA’s in-house PBSA management company, Novel Student, upon completion of the project, which is slated for the beginning of the 2023/2024 academic year.
The project, located on Carrigrohane Road, is situated in the Cork city centre, close to University College Cork, Cork Institute of Technology and University Hospital.
Carlo Matta, head of Europe for CA, said: 'We are excited to further our longstanding partnership with Harrison Street as we bring another modern, high-quality asset to market in Ireland under Novel Student.
'Together with Harrison Street, CA has already closed on four PBSA development projects to deliver more than 900 beds across London, Edinburgh, Leicester and Belfast. The closing of this transaction allows us to capture additional unmet demand in Cork as we expand our footprint in Ireland to deliver a total of 1,500 beds across the UK and Ireland.'
Demand for student beds in Ireland currently outstrips supply by almost three beds demanded for every one available and is forecast to grow another 9% over the next four years, according to research carried out by the joint venture.
Paul Bashir, CEO of Harrison Street’s European business, said: 'CA is a key partner with whom Harrison Street has worked for over a dozen years in the United States and more recently the UK, and we are excited to expand our partnership with them as we continue to identify attractive PBSA opportunities in top-tier university cities across Europe.
'This development represents an exciting opportunity to provide much needed modern PBSA accommodation to Cork's underserved university housing market.'
Each Novel Student community will offer a range of shared amenity spaces including breakfast bars, shared common areas, bike storage, an outdoor courtyard and rooftop amenities.
Harrison Street has to date invested over €3.5 bn in approximately 18,000 student accommodation beds, 2,600 specialty residential units and 2.1 million ft2 of life sciences space throughout Europe.
The firm’s experience in Ireland includes investments across 11 PBSA assets with over 3,500 beds developed to date with experienced, local developers and operators.
CA and Harrison Street have now partnered to launch PBSA-focused joint ventures in Ireland and the UK and are actively pursuing other opportunities together throughout Europe.
