Barings has acquired a plot of land for the development of its first purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) scheme in Italy, completing on a brownfield site in Rome, on behalf of its second European real estate value-add fund (BREEVA II).
Purchased through an Italian real estate fund managed by Savills IM SGR, Barings has acquired the 25,000 m2 site from an Italian company that is owned by BNL BNP Paribas. Financial details were not disclosed.
The disused site in the east of the city centre has planning permission for the development of a new PBSA scheme of 8,000 m2, consisting of 270 studio rooms and amenity spaces including tennis and padel courts. Barings will target LEED Gold accreditation, while minimising carbon emissions over the life-cycle of the project.
With demolition of the site’s existing unused buildings already underway and a specialist student housing operator set to be appointed in the coming months, the development’s first residents are expected to move in in time for the 2026/27 academic year.
The scheme at Via Umberto Partini is well connected to Rome’s public transport system, with easy access to several bus and tram lines (lines 545, 163 and 409), with La Sapienza University – continental Europe’s largest institution with 110,000 students – just 15 minutes away by bus. It is also within walking distance from Tiburtina, the high-speed railway station and the second largest train station in Rome.
While the deal marks Barings’ first investment in PBSA in Italy, student housing has been among its preferred sectors across Europe on behalf of BREEVA II and other investment strategies, including the recent forwardfunding of an asset in Manchester, UK, on behalf of a pan-European strategy Virna Asara Editor Profile for core property.