CA Ventures is a North American investor, developer and operator of student housing assets which since 2008, has delivered almost 50,000 beds of student accommodation across 40 major university markets in the US.
The transaction represents Investec’s largest PBSA loan to date, a sector in which it has provided more than £650m of finance, across over 16,000 beds in 41 schemes.
The three developments, all a mix of studios and en-suite clusters, will feature amenity space, premium fit out and elevated and concierge-style service levels. They are due to be complete for the start of the 2020/2021 academic year.
The Glasgow scheme, which will deliver 422 beds, is adjacent to the University of Strathclyde, a five-minute walk from Glasgow Caledonian University and two miles from the University of Glasgow.
The 216 room Edinburgh scheme will be in close proximity to Edinburgh Napier University and the University of Edinburgh, with Haymarket train station within a 10 minute walk.
In Sheffield, the 250-bed development is less than 400 metres from Sheffield University Campus and a short walk from the city centre and Sheffield Hallam University.
Chronic under-supply
Shivani Goolab, relationship manager at Investec Structured Property Finance, said: “Despite its relative maturity versus other alternative use classes, we continue to view the sector very favourably.
“There remain significant pockets of the UK where there is a chronic under-supply of student beds, a trend we expect to continue being supported by favourable economic factors including a weak pound and low interest rates. At the same time, the long-term, visible income streams and covenant strength offered is extremely appealing to institutional investors.”
Carlo Matta, head of Europe at CA Ventures, added: “This is the start of what we hope will be a long and fruitful relationship, as we look to leverage our near 15 year track record of developing and operating high quality student accommodation portfolios in the USA in establishing our footprint in the UK.”
Watkin Jones will be responsible for the development phase of the Glasgow scheme and Robertsons for the Sheffield scheme.
You may also be interested in the Mortgage Solutions newsletter. All the latest news, analysis and insight from the mainstream residential lending market. Including industry news, adviser business strategy tips and market commentary.