Student accommodation group GSA has announced the acquisition of over €330 mln of new student residences in Germany, tripling its holdings in the country.
GSA has joined forces with business partner, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC to carry out the deals, which encompass a total of 1,900 beds across the cities of Berlin, Hamburg and Frankfurt.
According to Frank Pfirsching, GSA's acquisitions & development director for Germany, the deals make GSA the market leader in Germany.
'These new transactions demonstrate GSA’s ability to drive rapid strategic growth in Germany, following our acquisition of a 1,000-bed portfolio just 16 months ago. GSA now owns nearly 3,000 beds in Germany,' he noted.
GSA has entered the Berlin market by acquiring two mixed-use schemes totaling 1,300 beds. These schemes are adjacent to U-Bahn (underground) stations and well-located in central districts of Berlin (Mitte and Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg) and will feature predominantly student accommodation, as well as serviced apartments. They will be marketed to students under the Neon Wood and Tannhaus brand names.
GSA has also entered Hamburg, acquiring a nearly 330-bed from Garbe College. Located in the Wandsbek district right next to Wandsbeker Chaussee U and S-Bahn station, the property was completed in May 2016. Known as Navale the student residence is managed by Uninest Student Residences, GSA’s operating brand within the German market.
In Frankfurt, GSA has added additional scale to its existing portfolio with the acquisition of more than 270 beds from Devario Invest. The student residence, called Urbanum, is located in a prime central location on Mainzer Landstraße and is well connected to Goethe University. The property was completed in September 2017 and is also managed by Uninest Student Residences.
Germany is Europe’s largest university student market attracting over 340,000 international students each year. While the country is one of Europe’s most popular destinations for foreign students, just 10 – 12% of the student population is able to access purpose-built accommodation.
'Purpose-built and managed student accommodation is a relatively new concept for the German rental market,' commented Anne Braun, GSA’s managing director for Germany.
Headquartered in Dubai, GSA was founded in 2007 by UK student accommodation specialist Unite Group's founder Nicholas Porter. The company has experienced strong growth in Europe over the last 12 months with more than 20,000 operational, in-development and secured pipeline beds across a total of 25 European cities in Germany, Spain, the UK and Ireland.
