Hines creates development JV with APG
Hines has entered into a joint venture with the Dutch pension investor APG Asset Management (APG) to develop and hold the “build-to-rent” multifamily residential element and ancillary retail at Cherrywood in Dublin.
In a significant development for the Cherrywood project, Hines will co-invest alongside APG into the joint venture, which will fund both the land and the construction of 1,221 fully serviced “build-to-rent” apartments along with street-level shops and cafes in the new Cherrywood Town Centre. The total development cost for this project is approximately €450 million ($540 million).
Cherrywood is a government-designated Strategic Development Zone project to build a new town in the borough of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown comprising more than 7,700 new homes, six schools, three major parks and leisure facilities, supported by an existing light rail system and serving an eventual planned population of 25,000 people.
The Town Centre will be the first purpose-designed “build-to-rent” project in Ireland.
“Having made comparable long-term residential investments in other markets such as The Netherlands, London, Madrid and Helsinki, we are continuously looking for attractive real estate investments that help us realize stable and long-term returns for our pension fund clients and their participants,” said Robert-Jan Foortse, head of European property investments of APG. “In a severely undersupplied market such as Dublin, we are pleased that this investment addresses this unserved demand in a meaningful way by enabling the development of over 1,200 dwellings.”
The joint venture with Hines is the largest investment by APG into the Irish market to date.
Subject to planning permission, construction of Cherrywood Town Centre will commence in mid-2018, with the first apartment blocks expected to be completed by mid-2020.
