Singapore’s City Developments spends £215m on UK PBSA

Singaporean investor City Developments has acquired five UK PBSA assets for £215m through two separate deals. The investor acquired four assets in Harrison Street’s Project Utopia portfolio for a combined £185m: Altura (pictued), a 435-bed scheme in Birmingham; the 491-bed Riverside in Canterbury; 614-bed Trinity View in Coventry; and 117-bed Sycamore House in Leeds with. The deal followed the company’s £30m purchase of Apache Capital’s 206-bed Cumberland Place in Southampton. The Harrison Street PBSA portfolio was originally marketed in June for £330m and included assets in Belfast, Swansea, Cardiff, and Portsmouth, as well as the assets bought by City Developments. City Developments chief executive Sherman Kwek said, “The UK student accommodation sector continues to demonstrate strong resilience as students return to campus post-COVID. “Our newly acquired assets are strategically located in cities where there is high demand but traditionally underserved by a lack of supply, providing further rental growth potential in the longer term.” JLL acted for Harrison Street in the sale. To send feedback, e-mail akanksha.soni@eg.co.uk or tweet @AkankshaEG or @EGPropertyNews Photo © City Developments