International Campus buys five assets in Germany and Austria

International Campus Groups, the student accommodation specialist, has completed the acquisition of a portfolio of five assets from Allianz Real Estate and CBRE Investment Management. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the transaction is one of the largest in the sector in Germany and Austria in the last three years.

The Fizz in Berlin

The five student apartment blocks, which already operated under the IC brand The Fizz, have a combined total of nearly 1,900 beds with a gross floor area of about 73,000 sq m. The properties are located in Berlin, Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Hannover and Vienna.

The acquisition represents a significant milestone for International Campus as it continues to grow its footprint in the student housing market and professional urban living space. It now plans to implement The Fizz’s new design and service concept across all five properties to “bring a fresh new look, upgrade community spaces, give apartments a make-over and improve services for all residents”, the group said.

 “We are proud to say that we now have 18 owned properties in fourteen different locations across four countries with a total of 7,400 beds under operation and development,” said Gawain Smart, CEO, International Campus Group. “We look forward to continuing our acquisition targets in 2023 by adding stabilised and turn-key assets in the living space through traditional and innovative and flexible purchase structures”.

The Fizz asset in Vienna

In the current market, student housing is proving to be a stable investment class, as it was during the pandemic. According to the latest Student Housing Spotlight from Savills, the transaction market continues to rush from one record to the next: investment volume reached  €11.7 billion in Q1-Q3 2022, which represents an increase of 130% compared to the previous year. Student housing continues to be in short supply and, with construction activity expected to decline this year, the number of new assets does not match growing demand.

University enrolment in the five cities where the five newly acquired assets are located adds up to a current total of more than 560,000 students.

“International Campus currently focusses on the major German cities for its student brand The Fizz, but we are happy to look at B-cities with strong universities,” said Michael Stapf, chief investment officer, International Campus Group. “The student apartments acquired from Allianz and CBRE are already fully occupied. We see strong demand in the student sector, which continues to innovate.”

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