Round Hill Capital has joined forces with a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund to launch a €500 mln Dutch residential investment strategy.
The new JV, with a pipeline of deals encompassing 2,000 units, has closed its first purchase with the acquisition of a portfolio of 14 residential property assets in city centre locations in the Netherlands and said it expects to see an increase in deal flow in the second half of the year.
The portfolio boasts low vacancy rates with assets located in the cities of Amersfoort, Arnhem, Apeldoorn and Deventer. 12 assets were recently redeveloped from vacant offices to 821 residential apartments that are focused on providing affordable homes for lower income tenant groups. The portfolio also consists of commercial units, parking spaces and storage units as well as two assets with development potential. The vendor was not disclosed, but it is said to have carried out the redevelopment of the assets.
Commenting on the transaction, Michael Bickford, founder and CEO of Round Hill Capital, said: ‘Our acquisition of this portfolio through our newly launched Dutch residential investment strategy further enhances our wider accommodation platforms in the Netherlands, which remain a key focus of our business strategy and growth plans despite the ongoing global uncertainty as to the impact and duration of the Covid-19 pandemic.’
Round Hill Capital established its residential investment and asset management platform in the Netherlands in 2014, advising the first international investors to build a substantial portfolio of Dutch residential real estate assets following the Global Financial Crisis.
In March 2019, Round Hill Capital sold the residential platform of 9,544 units in the Netherlands to Sweden’s Heimstaden for a total purchase price of €1.39 bn.
‘We have significant capital to deploy into our strong and growing pipeline of investment opportunities in select areas of the Netherlands, wider Europe and the US, which continue to see long-term supply constraints coupled with deep and increasing tenant demand for healthy, safe and inspiring places in which to live and work,’ the company said.
