CHICAGO — Harrison Street Real Estate Capital LLC has agreed to acquire a portfolio of six student housing properties in Germany from MPC Capital AG. The portfolio consists of more than 1,000 beds and serves university students in Berlin, Bonn, Kaiserslautern, Leipzig and Nuremberg. In addition, Harrison Street has formed a strategic joint venture with MPC Capital to acquire student housing properties across Europe. Headquartered in Germany, MPC Capital is a developer and operator of student accommodations. A press release announcing the transaction didn’t provide a purchase price or the expected closing date.
Under the terms of the joint venture, the properties will continue to be managed under MPC Capital’s STAYTOO brand and existing property management teams. MPC Capital has identified several other properties as possible acquisitions for the joint venture, which will also be managed under the STAYTOO brand.
Germany has Europe’s largest student population and a supply-constrained student accommodation market, according to Robert Mathias, senior managing director and head of international at Harrison Street. Those attributes plus strong user demand and enrollment growth present an attractive investment opportunity, adds Mathias.
Chicago-based Harrison Street is one of the largest owners of student housing in the United States and Europe. Harrison Street’s European student housing portfolio includes more than 6,500 beds owned or under construction across Ireland, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. Germany is the fourth European market that Harrison Street has penetrated since opening its London office in 2015.
An investment management firm focused exclusively on the education, healthcare and storage sectors, Harrison Street has approximately $12.8 billion in assets under management.