Harrison Street and CA Ventures to Bring 548-Bed Purpose-Built Student Accommodation to Leeds

Harrison Street, one of the leading investment management firms exclusively focused on alternative real assets, and CA Ventures (“CA”), the vertically integrated real estate investment management company, today announced that their joint venture (“JV”) will develop a 548-bed purpose-built student accommodation (“PBSA”) in Leeds, UK. The property will be managed by CA’s in-house PBSA management company, Novel Student, upon completion, which is expected in the third quarter of 2024.

The PBSA asset is part of a larger master plan redevelopment in Leeds City Center known as the Lisbon Street Development that includes a built-to-rent community, an office building and a hotel. The site is located near the University of Leeds and Leeds Beckett University as well as the Leeds train station and city centre’s restaurants, shopping and nightlife. The PBSA will offer complete bed-bath parity across 138 studio and 410 cluster units, each of which will come fully furnished with high-quality finishes. Community amenities will include and a gym, roof terrace, courtyard, game room, and communal study areas.

This is the JV’s sixth asset in the UK, which most recently announced a 393-bed ground up PBSA development in London, UK. The JV is expected to deliver 3,000 PBSA beds across the UK and Ireland.

Harrison Street is among the most active investors in alternative real estate sectors—including student accommodation, build-to-rent residential, and life sciences—in Europe. Since launching its European strategy in 2015, Harrison Street has acquired or developed 73 assets, including over 20,000 student accommodation beds, 3,000 residential units and 2.1 million square feet of life sciences space, in partnership with 14 operating partners in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, and Spain.