Former BoE building on Southampton high street set to house students
A former Bank of England building in Southampton is poised to be transformed into purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) thanks to an £11.85 million loan.
Investec Real Estate has provided modular development firm Stelling Properties Group with the loan to finance the build of the project, which will comprise 122 studios, and which will retain the building’s Grade II-listed high street frontage, it was reported.
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Stelling will manufacture the property at its factory in Hampshire, reducing the overall environmental impact. It is Investec's second transaction with Stelling.
Last year, Investec passed a £1bn student accommodation lending milestone, having funded 22,000 beds across 55 schemes in 23 cities since 2011, reported mortgage news and finance focused website The Intermediary.
Investec recently its third Future Living report, which reveals global institutional investors attitudes towards the UK living sector.
"Our latest Future Living report highlighted the strong prospects for the UK student accommodation sector and this transaction builds on our market leading track record in this space, in what is a critically undersupplied market," Ian Burdett at Investec Real Estate, was quoted as saying.
"Working with repeat borrowers has been key to our loan book resilience, and Stelling’s innovative utilisation of modular construction methods ensures they deliver high quality schemes in an efficient and sustainable manner."
Jose Ignacio Alvarez, executive chairman at Stelling Properties, reportedly added: "We are thrilled to be partnering with Investec once again, following the success of Riverside House in Guilford.
"This project will not only provide much needed quality purpose-built student accommodation in the area but utilising modular construction it will also bring an historic building back to its original glory and help to revive a busy city centre high street."
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