Edmond de Rothschild Real Estate Investment Management (REIM) has made its first investment in Scotland with the acquisition of a prime residential development site in Glasgow for the Edmond de Rothschild Residential Investment Fund UK.
The fund has agreed to forward fund a build-to-rent development of 114 apartments in the city’s trendiest neighbourhood, Finnieston, by Drum Property Group for £25.9 million.
Located on Minerva Street, adjacent to Exhibition Centre Station, the development, called G3 Square, has a detailed planning consent and construction will begin in the first quarter of next year, with completion expected in July 2023. Drum Property Group, which will act as development manager, is a well-established developer and investor, which recently delivered the new Barclays Bank headquarters building in Glasgow.
Edmond de Rothschild REIM operates a vertically integrated platform and will provide a lettings and management service for the completed development from its in-house PRS team. Energy for the development will be supplied via an innovative community heating and energy centre to supply cost-effective and sustainable heat and power.
Charlie Miller, co-head of residential in the UK and director of residential transactions at Edmond de Rothschild REIM, said: “G3 Square is an excellent opportunity to establish the fund’s first development in Scotland, where we will provide high-quality rental accommodation at affordable levels in line with the strategy for the fund. Glasgow is the seventh biggest city in the UK, with exceptionally strong demand for homes to rent”.
The Edmond de Rothschild Residential Investment Fund UK was launched in August 2018 and to date has raised equity commitments of around £260 millon, with further equity being raised, from European institutional investors. The fund aims to create a diversified portfolio of PRS assets, delivering sustainable and stable distributions over a long-term holding period.
Using a unique and comprehensive research-led approach, Edmond de Rothschild REIM focuses on the lower-to-mid market and has identified regional cities and locations outside central London where demand for rented accommodation is strong and set to grow, and where existing stock is predominantly old and in houses of multiple occupation (HMOs).
The fund’s first eight acquisitions were in Leicester (two), Warrington, Nottingham, Birmingham (two), Rugby and Gateshead.
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