Crosslane Student Developments has commenced work on its 391-bed purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) development located at the northern end of Howard Gardens in Cardiff, United Kingdom.
This property represents the fifth development under Crosslane’s joint venture with Harrison Street Real Estate Capital.
The joint venture, announced in January 2018, was initially comprised of four new PBSA housing developments in Leeds, Coventry, Portsmouth and Swansea. The addition of Howard Gardens in Cardiff brings the total gross development value to approximately £180 million ($227 million) across a combined portfolio of 1,685 beds.
“We are very pleased to have construction under way on Howard Gardens, our fifth development within the Harrison Street joint venture and a rare type of PBSA asset within the Cardiff market,” said David Smith, managing director at Crosslane Student Developments. “Howard Gardens is a cluster flat focused design, which gives students in Cardiff much needed and better value accommodation. It will help encourage students to be part of a community and share social experiences, while the majority of recent student accommodation developments in the city have been self-contained studio apartments. Its 391 beds will make a significant impact on easing the supply/demand imbalance for student accommodation in Cardiff, helping to free up private housing to rent for families and young professionals.”
Investec Structured Property Finance is providing £19.4 million ($24.5 million) debt financing for the development of the new Cardiff scheme, in addition to the £59 million ($75 million) it is already providing for the development of the Coventry, Portsmouth and Swansea schemes.
Crosslane will act as development manager for the joint venture to oversee construction of the Howard Gardens site to ensure it is completed on time, ahead of the 2020–2021 academic year, and to budget. Prime Student Living, the award-winning student accommodation lettings and operational management arm of the Crosslane Property Group, will be responsible for achieving full occupancy prior to practical completion and will continue to manage the building thereafter.
Cardiff’s 50,000 strong student population has continued to increase ahead of the national average for several years, with growth from international students in particular. As a result, the city has a significant shortage of suitable PBSA and is not keeping up with this growing demand.
“We continue to see demand for well-located, quality student accommodation schemes such as this one in Cardiff, in addition to the three developments on which Investec has already provided senior development loans. We look forward to seeing each asset thrive as they open their doors in 2019 and 2020,” said Erin Clarke, relationship director at Investec Structured Property Finance.
Crosslane Student Developments secured planning consent earlier this year to build a PBSA development, focused on shared cluster flats between four to eight bedrooms, where several students live and share a kitchen and living room.
Located in Adamsdown, the building project is ideally placed for students due to its close proximity to city center amenities and a number of key university campus sites, such as the Cardiff University Engineering Block and the University of South Wales. The scheme will encourage residents to walk, cycle or use public transport since it is within easy walking distance to most of the university buildings in the city.
