US investor Heitman is looking to broaden its exposure to the European residential, student and senior housing markets next year, Heitman’s co-head of Europe Rob Reiskin told PropertyEU in an interview.
US investor Heitman is looking to broaden its exposure to the European residential, student and senior housing markets next year, Heitman’s co-head of Europe Rob Reiskin told PropertyEU in an interview.
‘We believe the so-called "living" sector – e.g. residential, student housing and senior assisted accommodation - is becoming more and more institutional and we see a tremendous opportunity in scaling up this type of business on the continent,’ Reiskin said, adding that the company is already an experienced investor in the sector, with a residential portfolio of roughly $8 bn under management in the US.
Heitman is targeting the acquisition of a small student housing portfolio in Germany or the Netherlands but it may also enter the sector by taking over an existing operating platform, he added.
Reiskin: ‘We’d probably put together a joint venture with a local development partner and we might also try to bring some of our contacts with big operators in the US to this continent. We have a long track record in investing and managing student housing real estate in the US.'
The planned move is part of a recent broadening of the company’s investment strategy. Earlier this year the company made a number of residential acquisitions in the Netherlands through an alliance with Dutch partner Orange Capital Partners.
The investments were closed on behalf of a Northern American pension plan, Reiskin pointed out.
'Institutional investors like the granularity of residential investment. They also like the stability of the cash flow and the fact that returns have historically exceeded those of commercial real estate in a number of European markets.'
