Year: 2015

Student accommodation specialist Urbanest has paid the developer £25m for a car park on the site to build a high-rise block of 454-rooms.

This will trigger work start on the 3-acre redevelopment site in Nine Elms where CLS plans a 1.58m sq ft scheme, which will include two 50-storey residential towers of 513 flats.

The plans also include a large hotel and four screen cinema with surrounding shopping and cafes.

The car park site in Vauxhall has planning consent for a 30-storey student building, which Urbanest now expects start work on early in 2016, implementing the planning consent for the whole of the Vauxhall Square scheme.

Sten Mortstedt, Executive Chairman of CLS , said: We are delighted to have concluded this transaction with such a well-respected student operator, and look forward to our vision for Vauxhall Square beginning to become a reality.

Urbanest will bring excitement to the area and further enhance a vibrant community feeling in Vauxhall…

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Plans for a large student flats complex next to the remains of a historic Leicester hosiery factory have been approved.

Members of the city council’s planning committee have unanimously granted permission for 250 flats on Oxford Street in eight storey blocks.

They will stand next to and behind the retained facade of the 18th Century factory which was originally set to be bulldozed.

The developers, Firm 22 Ltd, revised the original 266 flat scheme after the council issued a legal order to prevent the standing building from being flattened….

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Student housing specialist Unite has secured planning consent for a £45 million project in Aberdeen.

The listed firm, which last year got the green light to redevelop a former primary school in the city, already operates four other properties in Aberdeen, providing accommodation for about 1,300 students.

Its latest project, on Constitution Street, will consist of 600 bedrooms across three blocks, the tallest of which will be nine storeys. The city centre site, expected to deliver a development yield of about 9.3 per cent, is a short walk from the University of Aberdeen and is close to transport links connecting it to Robert Gordon University.

Richard Simpson, managing director of property for Unite Students, said: “The redevelopment of this brownfield site through construction of high quality and environmentally sound accommodation, with well designed landscaped areas, will provide a safe and secure home for the growing numbers of students attracted to the city.

Aberdeen continues to develop as a thriving university city, attracting students from across the UK and internationally. Students continue to be important contributors to the local economy and this redevelopment will ease pressure on private residential housing in the area.

Unite has a presence in 28 towns and cities across the UK, with 138 properties housing more than 46,000 students…

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Town hall chiefs will consider plans for a dramatic £200m revamp of Fallowfield’s Owens Park campus this week. The site’s iconic tower – which has been home to generations of undergraduates – is set to be demolished to make way for a new student village.

A planning application, which proposes to house an extra 1,000 students, will go before the planners on Thursday. If it gets the go-ahead, a ‘village green’ will replace the tower and willl be surrounded by swanky student flats and townhouses.

It is hoped the city’s biggest student residential campus will become the ‘jewel in the crown’ of university accommodation. A new student services centre, shops and a doctor’s surgery are planned, as well as lawns with outdoor ‘chaise longues’.

Buildings will be between two and six storeys in height and include accommodation for campus wardens. The student village will boast new kitchens, enhanced student facilities, ‘energy centres’ and car parking.

University bosses intend the transformation to take place in three phases. The first will see empty land to the north of the Armitage sports centre turned into flats. The Oaks and Limes halls would then be demolished and replaced with apartments and houses.

A draft masterplan for Owens Park was agreed by council chief last year after most of the funding was secured from the Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Development Company, run by Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak…

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Aberdeen city centre could soon have more than 900 new students living in it after the green light was given to two property developments yesterday.

The Matalan retail store on Constitution Street will now be converted into a site containing 145 flats. Alongside this, the Triple Kirks on Belmont Street will be transformed into a block for a further 342 units of student accommodation.

However, concerns were raised by some councillors about the potential impact of traffic in the area surrounding Constitution Street. Under the plans, residents will have their tenancy agreement terminated if they bring a car onto the premises, but co Jennifer Stewart said the plan failed to take this into account.

She said: I have asked how many of the students the developers believe will have cars and I have been given no answer. There may be 300 or 400 of the students bringing them in. Councillor Jean Morrison added: “There a lot of leisure facilities nearby including the astrosphere and the beach ballroom, has the impact on these been taken into account?”

The planning gain was a bone of contention for the plans for a site on Belmont Street.

There had been an agreement that this would take the form of a pitch in Aberdeen Sport Village but councillors in the planning committee insisted that it should take the form of something closer by…

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The developers behind a £140m plan for a film studio in Scotland have had their plea for help from the Government rejected. PSL Land limited wants to build the studio complex at Straiton to the south of Edinburgh.

The facility would be Scotland’s first purpose-built film studio complex. However, after Midlothian Council delayed its planning decision on the scheme, PSL wrote to the Scottish Government to “”call in”” the plans and consider them.

The request was sent to Alex Neil, cabinet secretary for social justice and communities. However, the developers had their bid rejected.

In the reply, from the Local Government and Communities Directorate, Planning and Architecture Division, the developers were told that ministers – who have the power to call in any live planning application for determination – would only do so if the proposal “”raised issues of genuine national interest.

The letter goes on: “”Having considered the information available for this proposal and while noting the major potential of the proposal and the intended delivery of an energy centre and film studio forScotland; Ministers do not propose to call-in the application at this time.””

The developers are now appealing the decision.

PSL Land Ltd want to build a film and TV studio and backlot complex, a hotel, film school and student accommodation, a studio tour and other features.

They believe, as well as providing Scotland with a major film studio complex, it will generate 900 jobs in the area.

The Scottish Government is pursuing, with Scottish Enterprise, its own studio plan, which is believed to favour a site in Cumbernauld, close to where the Outlander TV series is being shot …

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A student accommodation complex in Birmingham city centre is being brought to the market next year and is expected to fetch in the region of £200 million.

Aston Student Village sits next to James Watt Queensway on the Aston University campus and replaced the old halls of residence in Lawrence Tower and Dalton Tower which were demolished in 2011.

Aston University is seeking a buyer for its 100 per cent interest in the complex which comprises 3,067 bedrooms and a multi-faith centre.

An adjoining all-weather sports pitch and car park, which were built as part of the same development, are not included in this sale process.

The bedrooms are currently for the sole use of students attending Aston University.

It is not clear at this stage whether it will be stipulated in the sale process that this exclusivity must remain as Birmingham City University has an expanding campus very close by in Curzon Street.

Deloitte Real Estate and Knight Frank have been recruited as joint agencies to market the site which is 100 per cent let this year and has a forecast gross annual income of £16.6 million.

Chris Baldwin, partner and head of residential at Deloitte Real Estate, said: This investment will represent the largest single property transaction of student housing to take place in the UK this year.
The student housing investment market has transacted over £5.7 billion in the last nine months and this is a prime asset allowing any investor to capitalise on a thriving market.

James Pullan, head of student property at Knight Frank, added: Investors are particularly drawn to the UK’s higher education sector because of its perceived position within a global context.

Aston Student Village will be of interest to institutions and operators from a global investment base…

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“Student housing specialist Select Property Group has secured planning permission for a £41 million development at Fountainbridge in Edinburgh.

Operating under the firm’s Vita Student brand, the project will see the area’s former Palais de Danse – most recently a Mecca Bingo – transformed into 261 self-contained studios, along with a 5,000 square foot “social hub” area including private study rooms, a movie room and gym.

The development, due to open in September 2017, will also feature three retail and leisure units and marks the final phase of the city’s Fountainbridge regeneration scheme, which includes retail, office and residential accommodation.

Ken Knott, Select’s chief development officer, said: “After 18 months of working with the city’s planners, we’re delighted they now truly understand our award-winning Vita Student product and its unique position in the market.”

Chief executive Mark Stott added: “With eight residences operational and four more sites in development across Glasgow, Newcastle and York, we’re looking forward to adding another award-winning residence to our portfolio north of the Border and supplying the unmet demand in this fantastic city.” …

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