Hardman’s Aboria Capital signs for London office

Aboria Capital, the real estate investment manager established earlier this year by developer Downing and led by ex-DWS UK boss Jessica Hardman, has picked a London base. The firm has taken roughly 2,000 sq ft at Grosvenor’s 24 Grosvenor Street. W1. Hardman told EG the site was right for the firm due to its “well recognised location, easily reached for staff, contacts and domestic and international investors to come visit”. Hardman worked at Deutsche Bank and asset management arm DWS for two decades before leaving earlier this year to establish Aboria. The firm is initially set on realising Downing’s £1.6bn pipeline, which includes 10 new projects planned to start on site at locations across the UK in the next two years. At the time of the launch, Hardman said: “The UK and European living sector continues to be the most favoured sector by international investors, especially where managers can offer the benefits of a vertically integrated value chain across both the investment and operational disciplines.”