黑洞社区

Student housing developer Unite has agreed a 拢460m joint venture deal with the Singapore government鈥檚 real estate arm, GIC, to fund further the development of up to 4,000 bed spaces in London.

The joint venture will be called Unite Capital Cities (UCC) and will buy up two existing Unite developments for 拢129m, as well as invest a further 拢330m in new schemes which the firm said would deliver between 3,500 and 4,000 student bed-spaces. It said the venture would become the primary vehicle through which UNITE undertakes development activity in London, and that there would be an option to invest a further 拢200m in new developments once the first 拢330m had been built out.

Unite said the deal would also see the extension of a separate existing joint venture between the two bodies, along with an option to merge the ventures after 2016.

Unite will act as Property Manager, Asset Manager and Development Manager for the duration of both joint ventures.

Mark Allan, chief executive of Unite, said the transaction was an important step for the firm, and would see it undertake increased development activity without stretching the Group鈥檚 balance sheet. He said: 鈥淚t gives us increased firepower in the London market at a compelling time, allowing us to increase our presence and investment in London, our key target market, where we now expect to have over 13,000 bedrooms within five years.

鈥淪uccessfully extending and expanding our joint venture relationship with GIC is testament to the track record that Unite has built and further demonstrates the continued appeal of the UK student accommodation sector to investors.鈥�