In Spain, the British company is analysing opportunities to put forth build-to-rent projects within the housing market. The goal also includes increasing the number of beds currently on the pipeline within the Iberian market, from the current 1.100 working units to more than 2.600 at the end of next year, advanced the group’s investment director, Pablo García-Morales, to Spanish online diary Eje Prime.
Despite the crisis caused by the pandemic, the developer remains «interested in expanding its portfolio» in Spain and is currently tracking markets in cities such as Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia and Pamplona. For Seville, «where we already have an asset under construction», there doesn’t seem to be much room for more student residences, added García-Morales.
The company currently has only one asset already operating in the Spanish market: a student residence near the Cartuja campus from the Universidade de Granada, with 319 bedrooms and 354 beds for students, managed by operator Amro Estudiantes. In September 2021 the company expects to open its second residence in Malaga with 229 beds. Throughout 2022-2023 it intends to buy two more assets in Seville, with 347 beds, and one in Valencia with 169. In total, the company expects to invest between 70 and 100 million euro in the construction of these four residences.
Amro also expects to enter the Portuguese market within the next 18 months, adding 500 beds across Lisbon and Porto to the 2.600 planned for Spain.
In the meanwhile, the British company with headquarters in Spain is also analysing the possibility of entering the housing rental Iberian market. «We have experience with this type of assets in the United Kingdom, and all we would need to do would be replicate the same model in Spain and Portugal», added Pablo García-Morales.
Amro Real Estate Partners is specialised in student residences and it has already intervened in the development of more than 2.500 beds in the British market. Besides the four assets it holds in Spain, Amro also has six other residences and three build-to-rent projects in the United Kingdom.
