Henderson Park and Hines acquired the site in 2018 as part of their purchase of a larger land plot on which they are also constructing a 750-bed purpose-built student accommodation. The sale follows the signing in September 2019 of a 15-year prelease agreement with the Toulouse Business School to build it a new Spanish headquarters.
Construction of the over 93,000-square-foot building commenced in July this year and with delivery to the Toulouse Business School expected by mid-2022. The 10-story building, which will have the capacity for around 1,000 students, has been designed with the highest quality assurance standards, targeting a LEED Gold or Platinum and WELL certification. Hines will remain as the delegated developer until completion of the building.
Located between street Cristóbal de Moura and Avenida Diagonal next to the new ‘aparto Diagonal Mar’ student residences which Henderson Park and Hines are constructing and expecting to deliver in time for the 2022/23 academic year, the site benefits from a “prominent position” in Barcelona’s 22@ district and is just 15 minutes’ walk from nearby university campuses. 22@ is one of the key innovation districts in Europe and is already noted for its connectivity with the rest of Barcelona and the city centre, as well as a number of regeneration projects that are already underway or have recently been delivered.
Nick Weber, Founding Partner of Henderson Park, said: «Having reached an agreement to bring the Toulouse Business School to a new purpose-built facility on this site, and with the construction of the project underway, this sale allows us to recycle capital for our clients and exit this portion of our investment to a long-term investor. This prestigious new educational facility further contributes to the regeneration of the area into one of Europe’s leading innovation centres is also the perfect complement to our aparto del Mar student housing project on the same site. We will now focus our attention on delivering these residences in time for the 2022/23 academic year together with Hines. Our ‘living’ focused residential strategy has been one of our conviction calls over the past few years and we expect our investments to continue to perform well in the current environment, underpinned by strong structural drivers and disciplined underwriting».
Vanessa Gelado, director of Hines in Spain, pointed out that: «This operation demonstrates the appetite for investment in the Spanish real estate market despite the impact of COVID-19. With this agreement, we are consolidating the development and construction of the future TBS headquarters in 22@, a project that will contribute to the positioning of the district as one of the largest innovation hubs in Europe and where we are a leading developer with over 75,000 sqm of projects underway».
The international real estate consultant JLL and legal firm Garrigues have advised Henderson Park and Hines on the sale and marketing of the property. Perial Asset Management was advised by Savills IM and Ashurst.
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