Property developers snap up £17.8m Leeds site

IN a move that brings Empiric Student Property’s management team full circle, the company has acquired a £17.8m site in Leeds.

The current management at Empiric (prior to the formation of the company) developed the building on behalf of the British Airways Pension Trust, who are now selling it to them.

Empiric stated that neither the company nor any of its management team has held any interest in, or been involved with the operation of, Pennine House for over twelve months.

The property in question is Pennine House, a 127-bed student accommodation building in the heart of Leeds.

It includes a mix of studios and two bed en-suite apartments across eight floors, as well as a gym, cinema room and common rooms.

The unit below is let to Living Ventures-affiliated restaurant Gusto which has a lease extending to 2041.

The Russell Street property will continue to be managed by Collegiate, alongside Empiric’s two other Leeds assets Algernon Firth and St Mark’s Court.

Next door a hotel is being developed, which impacted on lettings for the Russell Street property in the 2015/6 year, said the company.

Paul Hadaway, chief executive of Empiric Student Property plc, commented: “Pennine House is our third acquisition in Leeds, a Russell Group university city and home to the University of Leeds (ranked 14th in The Times Good University Guide) and Leeds Beckett University, with a full-time student population of over 50,000 (for 2014/15, being the latest information available from HESA).

“Tim Attlee and I know the property extremely well, having developed it on behalf of British Airways, prior to forming Empiric. The location and quality of the building make it an excellent fit with the rest of Empiric’s portfolio. Following this acquisition, the Group owns, in aggregate, 323 beds in Leeds, all of which are operational. This acquisition is in line with Empiric’s investment criteria and returns profile.”