CBRE has added Mason Gillard-Ellis to its UK & European Living team as a senior director focused on Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) portfolio transactions.
He will collaborate closely with Oli Buckland, head of UK PBSA investment, and report to Andrew Saunderson, head of UK Residential Capital Markets.
In his new position, Gillard-Ellis will spearhead the sourcing and execution of pan-European PBSA portfolio sales and acquisitions. He will also foster greater collaboration between CBRE's Capital Markets teams, including investment, Real Estate Investment Banking, and Equity Placement, to enhance the firm's capabilities in the Living sector.
Mason joins CBRE from JLL, where he served as a director and member of the Capital Markets team since 2018, specializing in Living sector transactions across the UK and Continental Europe. He has played a key role in some of the most significant PBSA deals, including the acquisition of Student Roost, the UK's third-largest PBSA platform at the time, comprising over 23,000 operational beds. Mason provided M&A and real estate advisory services to GIC and Greystar on this transaction and also executed the sale of over 3,500 beds for Harrison Street across separate UK PBSA portfolio transactions. Prior to his role at JLL, Mason worked in Deloitte's Corporate Finance team in Chile.
Jeremy Eddy, head of Living Capital Markets, Europe commented: ‘We see huge opportunities for growth in the PBSA sector across Europe as the current supply and demand dynamics mean it is a high conviction focus for investors. Mason’s financial acumen and his experience in handling extremely complex transactions, both as a real estate and financial advisor, will be enormously valuable in supporting our growth ambitions and capitalising on the full scope of our Capital Markets capabilities at CBRE.’
