Empiric acquires development in Huddersfield

RNS Number : 1268O

Empiric Student Property PLC

26 May 2015

 

26 May 2015

Empiric Student Property plc

("Empiric" or the "Company" or, together with its subsidiaries, the "Group")

Empiric acquires forward funded development in Huddersfield: Oldgate House

The Board of Empiric Student Property plc (ticker: ESP) is pleased to announce that the Group has acquired a forward funded development in Huddersfield, known as Oldgate House, for a total investment of £11 million. It is currently being developed into a prime, purpose-built student accommodation asset.

The Group has acquired the freehold to the site on Oldgate, located very close to the city centre and within a five minute walk of the main campus of the University of Huddersfield.  The scheme comprises 179 beds across a mix of different size studios, together with communal space for students.  The property is also within a 10 minute walk to Snow Island, another of the Group's developments which is due to begin operations in September 2015. Once the two assets are operational, this will provide the Company with an opportunity for combining operations and achieving economies of scale. 

Forshaw Land and Property Group Limited will undertake the redevelopment of the property on behalf of Empiric, to the Company's specifications.  The full investment required for the development will be invested in stages against development milestones. As is typical for Empiric's forward funded assets, the Company will receive an income return from the developer payable as a rental receipt during the development period.

The property is scheduled for practical completion by summer 2016, in time for the 2016/17 academic year.

Paul Hadaway, Chief Executive of Empiric Student Property plc, commented:

"The University of Huddersfield has won a number of awards in recent years including The Times Higher Education University of the Year, and student numbers are now over 19,000 (HESA 13/14). However, there is an increasing shortage of high-quality student accommodation in the town. Oldgate House is ideally located both for the university and local amenities and we expect the scheme to generate attractive returns in line with our stated investment parameters."

For further information on the Company, please contact:

Empiric Student Property plc	(via Newgate below)
Paul Hadaway (Chief Executive)
Tim Attlee (Chief Investment Officer)
Michael Enright (Chief Financial Officer)
Akur Limited (Joint Financial Adviser)	Tel: [phone]
Tom Frost
Anthony Richardson
Siobhan Sergeant
Jefferies International Limited (Joint Financial Adviser and Broker)	Tel: [phone]
Gary Gould
Stuart Klein
Alex Collins
Newgate (PR Adviser)	Tel: [phone]
James Benjamin	Em: [e-mail]
Andre Hamlyn
Lois Engstrand

Further information on Empiric can be found on the Company's website at www.espreit.co.uk.

Notes:

Empiric Student Property plc (incorporated in England & Wales) is an internally managed real estate investment trust ("REIT") investing in modern, premium, student accommodation, with a focus on quality and with assets generally in prime central locations in top university cities and towns in the UK.  The Company listed on the premium listing segment of the Official List of the Financial Conduct Authority and was admitted to trading on the main market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange in June 2014. 

 

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