EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Fabrica CEO Marco Doglio

Rome-based fund manager Fabrica Sgr is on the prowl for further student housing investments for its recently launched Erasmo property fund.

In an interview with PropertyEU, CEO Marco Doglio said the company is studying a number of potential projects near the Northern Italian universities of Milan, Venice and Bologna as well as in the south of the country.

‘We are looking for new projects both to increase student facilities and to stimulate the local economies,’ Doglio said.

Fabrica Sgr has around €2.4 bn of assets under management across 10 funds. It is controlled by construction group Caltagirone and bank Monte Paschi di Siena.

In February, Fabrica launched Erasmo, Italy’s first investment fund dedicated solely to student housing. The vehicle is targeting a total size of €300 mln and has a life of 18 years.

The fund recently carried out its first deal with the acquisition of a site in Turin, where it is developing a total of 600 beds at Via Caraglio near the city’s iconic Mole Antonelliana building. The investment is expected to amount to a total of €25 mln and delivery is scheduled for 2015.

'Erasmo is aimed at taking advantage of a structural shortage of student residences in Italy,' Doglio added. 'The offer of student housing facilities satisfies as little as 10% of potential demand in our country, compared to an average of 21% for the rest of Europe,' he noted.

The unit holders of the Erasmo fund are the Italian public pension fund INPS, through the Aristotele property fund, also managed by Fabrica, and CDP Investimenti Sgr, a subsidiary of state-owned institution Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP). CDP in particular is participating with at least a 40% equity contribution as part of its mission to finance social housing projects in Italy.

Doglio said that Erasmo is now open to other stakeholders such as pension funds, universities and bank foundations, both in terms of cash and asset contributions.

Fabrica has nearly 10 years of experience in the student housing sector. In the early 2000s, the company won a mandate to create an investment vehicle for Italy’s INPS public pension fund and subsequently launched Aristotele, which invests in research and university facilities, student housing as well as nursery homes. In total, INPS has invested over €650 mln of equity in Aristotele.

'The fund currently has 16 real estate assets across Italy, including five projects in the student housing sector,' Doglio pointed out. Fabrica-managed Aristotele has already developed a 1,500-bed facility in Rome Tor Vergata, as well as a 200-bed scheme in Milan, and 600-bed facilities each in Bari and Chieti.