Henderson Park & Hines invest in student housing in Barcelona

Hines and Nick Weber’s investment platform, Henderson Park, have completed their first student accommodation investment in Spain and second in Europe following the acquisition of a project in Lancaster, UK. The joint venture group have bought a site to develop a 20,000m² 750-bed student housing project in Barcelona, Spain.

“The Spanish market, and Barcelona in particular, presents highly attractive supply and demand dynamics for an investment into the student accommodation sector» according to Nick Weber, Founding Partner of Henderson Park.

Known as «Aparto Diagonal Mar», the project is located 15 minutes’ walk from nearby university campuses and will occupy half of a city block in Barcelona’s 22@ Innovation District. It is expected to be open for the 2021/2022 academic year and will include amenities such as a swimming pool and gym. Hines’ in-house operating platform, Aparto, will be in charge of the asset management.

According to Lars Huber, CEO of Hines Europe, “The fundamentals of Barcelona’s student housing market are very strong, with an under-supply of quality accommodation, despite the popularity of its universities. 22@ Innovation District is set to provide a memorable living experience and is the ideal location for our Aparto management platform, with its strong place-making and community focus. This investment demonstrates our commitment to the student housing sector as we continue to look for opportunities in core cities across the UK and Europe with growing and dynamic student populations.”

About Henderson Park

Henderson Park is a real estate investment platform which was launched by Nick Weber in late 2016 and has already built a $3.5 billion portfolio of landmark European real estate assets across four countries. Henderson Park is backed by three cornerstone investors: Stone Point Capital, Kuwait Investment Authority and Wafra Investment Advisory Group. Henderson Park has been established to invest in European real estate, primarily targeting gateway cities and seeking investments in both assets and companies. Henderson Park will pursue opportunities across a wide variety of commercial real estate sectors.

Henderson Park is led by Nick Weber, its Founding Partner and CEO. Nick has over 20 years of real estate experience, including most recently as Head of Europe for Mount Kellett and previously at Goldman Sachs for 14 years, where he was a Partner and Co-Head of its European Special Situations Group.

About Hines

Hines is a privately owned global real estate investment firm founded in 1957 with a presence in 201 cities in 24 countries. Hines has approximately $111 billion of assets under management, including $60 billion for which Hines provides fiduciary investment management services, and $51 billion for which Hines provides third-party property-level services. The firm has 108 developments currently underway around the world. Historically, Hines has developed, redeveloped or acquired 1,295 properties, totaling over 422 million square feet. The firm’s current property and asset management portfolio includes 506 properties, representing over 210 million square feet. With extensive experience in investments across the risk spectrum and all property types, and a pioneering commitment to sustainability, Hines is one of the largest and most-respected real estate organizations in the world.