A prominent Newcastle student accommodation building has changed hands in a £28.75m deal between two investors.
UK-based asset manager Curation Capital has acquired the 416-bed Mansion Tyne scheme built on the site former Tyne Tees TV site on City Road from Hong Kong and Singapore-based IP Investment Management (IPIM). The building, which is made up of en-suite and studio rooms and features a cinema room, laundry facilities and bike storage, was first acquired by IPIM in 2018.
The firm, which has more than £233m ($300m) of assets under management including other student schemes across the UK, added 30 beds to the scheme and replaced the operator. It also owns the Duresme Court student development in Durham and is said to have acquired or developed more than £315m of institutional quality student accommodation assets in the UK to date.
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London-based Curation Capital, which is part of the Steyn Group, has a joint venture with Patron Capital through which it has been buying up student schemes in London, Manchester, Nottingham and most recently in Birmingham.
Property agency Knight Frank, which facilitated the deal, said Newcastle has a low student-to-bed ratio of 2.53 in a city of more than 52,000 students.
Selina Williams, executive director at IPIM, said: “We are pleased to have worked with the team at Knight Frank to successfully execute the sale of this high-quality PBSA asset in Newcastle. The property has performed well and attracted strong interest from investors, reflecting the positive fundamentals of the UK student housing market. This transaction represents an attractive outcome for our investors, and we look forward to exploring new opportunities to continue growing our PBSA portfolio.
Michael Haverty, partner at Curation Capital, said: “We are delighted to have acquired our first PBSA asset in Newcastle, the city’s market dynamics present an attractive business case. This acquisition allows us to continue to expand and diversify our UK student accommodation portfolio. We look forward to working closely with our development and operational partners, Forge Development and Almero Student, on the repositioning of this asset.”
Luke Shackleton, associate in Knight Frank’s Student Property team, said: “This opportunity provided a rare chance for investors to acquire an institutionally attractive and well located operational purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) scheme in a prime regional market. Newcastle continues to benefit from rising student numbers and a constrained development pipeline, placing it high among investors’ target markets. We are delighted to have brokered the deal between our client and the purchaser.”
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