Greystar Real Estate Partners buys Shoreditch student block for £160 million

Greystar Real Estate Partners — a subsidiary of the Public Sector Pension Investment Board and Allianz Real Estate, known as the Chapter JV — has acquired the Paul St East project in Shoreditch from Apache Capital for over £160 million.

The 458-bedroom scheme, which was developed by Apache Capital in a joint venture with McLaren Property, has been fully-let every year since its completion. Apache is looking to reinvest funds from the sale into its build-to-rent project with Moda Living.

Chief executive of Apache, John Dunkerley, stated: “The sale price of Paul St East not only underlines the continued attractiveness of UK purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) to institutional investors and the growing maturity of the sector as an asset class, but also shows the benefit of investing heavily in creating aspirational lifestyles for our residents through marketing, amenity provision and high-quality service… By being an early mover into UK PBSA and creating a genuinely premium product, we have delivered exceptional returns for our investors, which further underpins our rationale behind our current strategy with Moda Living in build-to-rent, where we are creating one of the largest branded portfolios with a similar focus on prime locations and high-quality amenity and services.”

Meanwhile, Troy Tomasik — Greystar’s managing director of investments in the UK and Ireland — said: “Greystar is excited to be expanding the Chapter portfolio with another high-quality student accommodation asset in London – which remains the premier global city for international students with its world-class universities and higher education institutions. We strongly believe that Paul St East has significant long-term potential through integrating the asset with our Chapter brand to offer students the exceptional services and experiential living enjoyed at Greystar’s other Chapter residences.”

This news was brought to you by Morgan Pryce, a specialist tenant acquisition agent with offices in Oxford Circus and the City. Morgan Pryce specialises in search, negotiation and project management and works exclusively for tenants.