Property investment, development and asset management firm Round Hill Capital and NBK Capital have bought a 1.5 acre freehold site on Bandon Road in Cork for €10.3m.
The site has full planning permission for a 412-bed student accommodation development, with additional opportunity for an adjoining site offering a further 142 beds, subject to planning.
It has a gross development cost of €83m.
The project is the fourth investment Round Hill Capital has made in the student accommodation sector as part of its joint venture with NBK Capital, taking its current portfolio to almost 1,350 beds under development.
The Bandon Road development, which is within a five-minute walk to University College Cork, The Cork Institute of Technology and Cork city centre, will be ready for occupation in September 2022 and in time for the 2022/23 academic year.
Round Hill Capital said the project will deliver much-needed student accommodation into the Cork student housing market, which has a significant supply/demand imbalance.
It noted that Cork is home to 15% of the country's student population, with 25,617 full time students in the city, but it only has dedicated student accommodation available for less than 20% of that population.
Michael Bickford, founder and CEO at Round Hill Capital, said the firm has an 18-year track record of successfully investing in, developing and operating student accommodation and residential housing assets across Europe.
"We appreciate that areas of the student and residential housing markets in Ireland suffer from structural supply and demand imbalances and we look forward to helping alleviate these pressures and further expanding Round Hill Capital's business in Ireland and across Europe," Mr Bickford added.
