Harbert European Real Estate (HERE), the European real estate investment platform of Harbert Management Corporation (HMC), has acquired a 535-bed Liverpool student housing asset from developer Blacklight Capital Partners for an undisclosed sum.
The Limelight asset, set across 162,554 sq ft, was being marketed for offers in excess of £61m by agent Savills a year ago.
Close to the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University, Limelight was delivered by Blacklight in a financial partnership with RoundShield, the European credit and tactical opportunities arm of global alternative asset manager Harrison Street, after the site was acquired from administrators in 2022.
The scheme comprises 535 student beds arranged across a mix of studios and cluster apartments and amenities include a gym and a cinema. Since full operation commencing in 2024, Limelight has achieved stabilised occupancy at 99%.
David King, senior managing director and co-head of European real estate at HMC, said: “We believe this investment will deliver resilient, inflation-linked income and is well positioned to weather a potential higher-for-longer environment, as continued geopolitical volatility places upward pressure on inflation expectations. Across all our strategies, we remain focused on disciplined deployment and hands-on management, ensuring we create value at both an asset and portfolio level in markets underpinned by clear structural tailwinds.”
Matthew Hunt, principal and founder at Blacklight, said: “This disposal crystallises true development value ahead of our underwritten business plan, and has demonstrated the capacity of the Blacklight:RoundShield partnership to deliver high-quality, institutional real estate with global appeal, a strategy that remains active and fully funded.”
Since HERE’s establishment in 2002, the platform has invested in more than 5,000 living sector units, including for-sale, multi-family/build-to-rent and purpose-built student accommodation properties, across core European markets.
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