Greystar announces €725m close for flagship pan-European closed-end value-add residential strategy
Greystar Europe Investment Management B.V. (the “Manager”) closed €725 million in equity commitments into its flagship pan-European value-add discretionary vehicle. The vehicle received equity commitments from a diverse group of global institutional investors from Continental Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific including both new and existing Greystar investors. The Manager is a subsidiary of Greystar Real Estate Partners, LLC (“Greystar”), a global leader in the investment, development and management of high-quality rental housing properties.
The pan-European closed-end value-add residential vehicle is targeting €1 billion of equity commitments and will leverage Greystar’s unique vertically integrated platform across the region to target top cities in the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, France, Germany and Austria. This adds to Greystar’s 30-year track record of investing in global value-add opportunities to date.
The announcement comes at a time when the Europe multifamily and student housing sectors are characterised by limited supply of quality rental housing. This, coupled with both continued urbanisation trends in Europe’s top cities and the increasing unattainability of home ownership, has resulted in a growing renter cohort.
The discretionary investment vehicle will focus on the acquisition and select development of purpose-designed, thoughtfully amenitised and professionally managed rental residential assets, including multifamily and purpose-built student accommodation. Greystar’s local sourcing teams will continue to employ the company’s historically successful research-based approach to identify strategic investments in undersupplied markets with favourable demographic trends and leverage its vertically integrated platform to add value to assets through capital improvements, repositioning and operational enhancements.
The vehicle has seed investments in the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands with an active pipeline of investments across its target cities.
Mark Allnutt, Senior Managing Director – Europe, Greystar, said: “This opportunity is the culmination of more than seven years of hard work establishing the only vertically integrated pan-European residential platform, which means we have the capabilities to invest, develop and operate assets under one roof. We are therefore uniquely placed to offer simplicity and scale to investors seeking European residential exposure. Further, we are excited to take advantage of a market where demographic trends combined with the structural undersupply of housing is driving demand for high-quality rental properties across Europe.”
Wes Fuller, Executive Managing Director – Global Investment, Greystar, said: “The investment opportunity in European rental housing is extremely compelling. We have an experienced and talented European team located in the cities where we have the highest conviction. The flagship strategy in Europe follows a successful track record of European value-add investments and follows the formula of Greystar’s long history of value-add acquisition strategies in the US. We are thrilled that existing and new capital partners have supported Greystar with this closing which is a testament to the market opportunity, our team and the demand for residential real estate globally.”
Read Greystar’s European rental housing whitepaper here.