ESP : Empiric Student Property acquires Edge Apartments, in Selly Oak, Birmingham, for £8.9m
Empiric Student Property has announced that it has acquired Edge Apartments (pictured), in Selly Oak, Birmingham, for £8.94m. Edge Apartments is a purpose built, 77 bed, student accommodation property which also benefits from rental income from a Sainsbury’s store (which is let on a 15 year lease) and a coffee shop on its ground floor. The student accommodation rooms are let for 51 weeks of the year and are 100% let for the 2014/15 academic year. Edge Apartments is located opposite the main University of Birmingham campus and is next to Brook Studios, the student accommodation property acquired by ESP on 23 July 2014. Collegiate AC will manage both properties on behalf of ESP, and ESP reports that this will bring cost savings from joint operation.
ESP IPO’d on the London Stock Exchange on 30 June 2014 and, since this time, has acquired all four initial student accommodation assets that were highlighted in its prospectus. Three further student accommodation assets have also been acquired and further acquisitions are in the pipeline. ESP expects to provide a trading update on or around 15 September.