We aim to provide insight and thought leadership applicable to the Purpose Built Student Accommodation sector. As well as providing a wealth of experience, our team aim to influence the sector by commenting on trends, forecasting what's next for the sector and how it will affect or enhance the student experience.
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WHAT WE THINK
ARTICLES
SF Investment Management Oversees Inditex Group Lease of Rossio Pombalino Stores in Lisbon
UK-based advisor and asset management firm SF Investment Management has overseen the three-year rehabilitation of a 200-year-old historic building in Lisbon and subsequent lease agreement between The Inditex Group and Rossio Pombalino S.A.
Since February 2018, Rossio Pombalino S.A. has invested over €100 million in the acquisition and rehabilitation of this flagship building and Lisbon landmark, which included repair and strengthening of original pombaline walls and staircases, a completely new roof, repainted frescos, recreated stucco ceilings, repaired original fixtures and the restoration by hand of over 20,000 original azulejo tiles from the 18th century. The company is 100% owned by an international family office who hold this asset as part of a diversified portfolio of financial investments and real estate ventures.
Rossio Pombalino represents the Inditex Group’s new strategy of larger flagship physical stores, providing a unique experience to store visitors and customers, containing the full range of its collections and accompanying with better logistics and technology.
Richard Gabelich, co-manager of the development and CEO of SF Investment Management who advises the owner:
"We are very pleased with the agreement with the Inditex Group, managing to maintain the balance between the modern future, represented by the brand of an international fashion retail leader and which has a privileged operational relationship with Iberia, and maintaining the Pombaline characteristics that we jointly wanted to preserve. This is an excellent opportunity for Zara to come and energise the most noble area in the heart of the city of Lisbon and brings a world class long term partner appropriate to the super prime nature of the location"
The project involved a broad and careful rehabilitation operation of one of the most well-known spaces in Lisbon, once partially occupied by Pastelaria Suiça. This has resulted in an exemplary initiative to safeguard the heritage, creating conditions for the installation of a modern store and adapted to the current time, but preserving the identity and all the architectural elements relevant to the existing construction.
In keeping with this sympathetic restoration, Richard Gabelich adds:
"The historic tea and coffee shop 'Pérola do Rossio' remains as an integral part of 'Rossio Pombalino', under the management of the original family who celebrated 100 years in 2023 and ensuring the preservation of the historical memory of the building."
The rehabilitation of the building has maintained other key historically significant elements of architectural and patrimonial value such as the historic store 'Manteigaria União'. It is this mixture of architectural and commercial elements that give the recreated space the mark of a contemporary intervention.
Empower
Growth
SFG Appoints New Directors and Celebrates Major Milestone
SF Group (SFG)has appointed two new directors as it looks to accelerate growth during its next phase of development.
Over the last six years, SFG has cultivated a team of experts with more than 150 years of combined knowledge in the real estate sector with a considerable focus in Higher Education (HE):
-Under the ‘Student First’ brand, SFG specialises in tailored commercial advice to universities, developers and funders with a specialist team unique for their knowledge of Purpose Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) having sat on all sides of the table in working with the HE sectors. Since inception, the company has increased its turnover by 50% year on year, developed over 20 new residential strategies for UK universities, led Design, Build, Fund Operate (DBFO) partnership projects at eight universities and advised on nomination agreements for over 8,000 student beds
-Under the ‘SF Investment Management’ brand, SFG has managed over £500 million of assets, including direct let and on-campus PBSA partnerships, residential, retail and hospitality assets. Within the last year, the team has facilitated the successful turnaround and sale of an 800-bed PBSA portfolio through performance improvement and operational restructuring and completed the three year rehabilitation and lease of a 200 year-old historic building for the Inditex Group’s flagship Zara store in Lisbon. SFG is now targeting capital partners to further its direct investment strategy and grow its asset management platform.
Robert Kingham has stepped into the role of Director, Head of Advisory after joining SFG in 2022 as Head of University Advisory. Robert has over 25 years’ experience in the property industry and for the last 18 has specialised in providing strategic estates advice to the HE sector. Robert has led or advised multiple universities on student housing partnership projects that have created or upgraded around 15,000 beds. His previous roles include Director for Higher Education at professional services firm JLL, as well as serving on the Finance and Resources Committee at Cardiff University.
On his appointment, Robert said: “Having spent more than 15 years dedicated to improving student accommodation and university living standards, I am excited to take my place as a Director at SFG. My deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities in this sector will guide our efforts to enhance the student experience for our clients and across our portfolio. It’s a great privilege to be able to contribute to our mission of providing exceptional housing solutions for students nationally."
Andrew May has been appointed as Director, Head of Development for SFG and will lead the focus on its direct investment strategy. Andrew has over 30-years’ experience of real estate, PFI/PPP and infrastructure projects and has been Involved in PBSA since 2002, including as one of the co-founders of UPP. A previous Director of Estates at University of Hertfordshire and Development Director of Located (a government owned property company), Andrew has been actively involved in c. 30,000 beds.
Andrew commented: “Investment in Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) is increasing rapidly, with the latest figures reaching £2.45 billion in the first half of 2024. I am excited to lead the strategic growth of SFG’s development and investment management activities with a focus on enhancing the value we deliver to students and educational institutions while ensuring sustainable returns.”
RESEARCH PAPERS
It's that time of year again - A snapshot of the UK student accommodation market
The 2022/23 academic year saw a surge in the need for Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) in the UK, in the aftermath of the pandemic years. We took a snapshot of the availability of PBSA across the country on 2 October 2023 to ask: one year later, how easy or difficult is it for students to find accommodation at this point in the cycle? SFG partners with StudentCrowd who collates data with 100% coverage of UK PBSA.
The London Plan and student accommodation: is it working?
Student First Group (SFG) and CBRE jointly ran a seminar in late 2022, bringing together developers, operators and universities to ask this question. London is still experiencing a bottleneck in Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA): supply is falling behind demand from students across the UK and across the world who are drawn to London as one of the top international destinations for Higher Education.
SFG has been building a profile of university requirements, actively matching supply with demand, and introducing universities to potential developments with a good fit. In this report, we summarise the points that we made in the seminar and distil the ideas brought to the table by the attendees, all of whom had first-hand experience of grappling with the issues.
'Student housing: university partnerships in the UK'
This is our latest report on an ever-growing investment sector involving partnerships between universities, developers, investors and operators to create new or refurbished student housing.
In the first research publication of this kind since 2018, we examine Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) structures, as well as income strips.
We ask: how has this sector grown? Who is active in the market? What is the pipeline of projects? What are the current challenges? And - what might the future hold?
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