Student housing firm pays £9.6m for Glasgow project

Empiric Student Property has signed a deal to buy a development in Glasgow for a total of £9.6 million.

Empiric's new project sits opposite Strathclyde University's John Anderson campus. Picture: Neil Hanna

The 155 George Street scheme, which sits opposite Strathclyde University’s main John Anderson campus, will see a vacant office building converted into 87 self-contained studios, along with a two-bed apartment.

KR Developments will carry out the development on behalf of Empiric and is expected to be on-site in the spring, with delivery of the scheme scheduled for summer 2017, in time for the 2017-18 academic year.

Empiric chief executive Paul Hadaway said: “This acquisition complements Empiric’s existing student accommodation assets in Glasgow, a city with 53,000 full-time students at five higher education establishments; the third-largest student population in the UK outside London. Within the city 23 per cent of students are international and 21 per cent are post-graduates.

“Once all properties are complete, Empiric will own 440 operating beds in this Russell Group university city, which will help to drive further operational efficiencies and economies of scale. This acquisition is in line with Empiric’s investment criteria and returns profile.”