A 116-bed student accommodation property in the Fallowfield area of Manchester has been bought for more than £10m.
Empiric Student Property has acquired the 145-year leasehold of Ladybarn House opposite the University of Manchester's residential Fallowfield Campus for £10.25m excluding costs from Accrue Capital.
Ladybarn House was built in 1994 by the University of Manchester, which remains the freeholder. It was subsequently refurbished by Accrue Capital in 2012.
The property comprises 117 beds over three floors in a mix of studios, one-bed apartments and four-bed en-suite apartments, with communal facilities. The property also has four fully let ground-floor retail units.
Empiric told investors that the property has an excellent occupational track record, is fully let for the 2015/16 academic year and is letting well for 2016/17. It added that CRM Student would continue to manage the property until it is moved onto the Hello Student platform, which is currently envisaged to be for the 2016/17 academic year.
Paul Hadaway, chief executive of Empiric Student Property, said: "Ladybarn House is our second acquisition in Manchester, a city with a high student population - 61,990 full-time students in 2014/15, of which 23.5 per cent are international and 17.5 per cent are postgraduate (according to the latest available HESA statistics).
"The property is located in the vibrant student suburb of Fallowfield, with its numerous bars, restaurants and shops as well as direct bus links to the city centre and the University of Manchester's main campus. This acquisition is in line with Empiric's investment criteria and returns profile."