London real estate investor 90 North acquires Leamington Spa student accommodation in £17m deal

90 North Real Estate Partners LLP, the London-based commercial real estate investor, has acquired a £17.185m student accommodation development in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, UK, called The Union.

The developer and seller of the 64,000 sq. ft. property was UK-based student housing specialist Alumno.

Completed in September 2017, The Union is Royal Leamington Spa’s newest purpose-built student housing development and offers 187 bedrooms.

The accommodation features a mix of ensuite cluster rooms and studio flats, across four storeys for students from the University of Warwick.

The scheme also comes with facilities including a large common room, laundry room, car club electric cars, bicycle storage and landscaped gardens.

The property fronts the town’s Grand Union Canal and is less than a mile from retail, leisure and nightlife amenities, with public transport also a short walk away.

Bedrooms at The Union are direct let on annual tenancies, with the property managed and operated by Homes for Students, an established specialist student housing operator.

John Yeend, partner at 90 North, commented: “This is the second acquisition for our new Academy UK student housing programme and takes the number of beds that we currently have under management to over 2,200.

“With 5,000 Warwick University students living in Leamington Spa but less than 500 purpose-built student accommodation units for them, the town is severely undersupplied.

“This is evidenced by the fact that we are essentially fully pre-let for the next academic year, with 179 rooms out of a total of 187 already taken. Alumno Developments have created superb accommodation which we believe will be attractive to undergraduates and postgraduates for many years to come.”

The University of Warwick is a Russell Group university which has been ranked eighth in the 2018 Times UK University Ranking. Founded in 1965, it is a campus based university located just outside Coventry with 25,616 students, of which, currently, 14,867 are undergraduates and 9,398 are post-graduates.

David Campbell, managing director of Alumno, added: “We are delighted to have worked with 90 North on this project to complete the sale of The Union, Leamington Spa.

“The Union was a significant project for Alumno and represents all the best aspects that a well-conceived and detailed student housing project can offer, in terms of meeting the place-making agenda and enhancing the existing community and local environment.

“We are extremely pleased that the development is going to be a significant part of 90 North’s exciting student housing program.”

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