Purchased through an Italian real estate fund managed by Savills IM SGR, Barings has acquired the 25,000 sq m site from an Italian company that is owned by BNL BNP Paribas.

The disused site in the east of the city centre has planning permission for the development of a new PBSA scheme of c. 8,000 sq m, 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 forward-funding of an asset in Manchester, UK, on behalf of a pan-European strategy for core property.

Marco Corti, Managing Director and Country Head Italy at Barings Real Estate, said: “Given that PBSA is a relatively immature asset class in Italy which benefits from favourable and long-term tailwinds, we identified this scheme as an excellent opportunity to fulfil long-held plans to enter the country’s student housing market. The property will offer its students a first-class experience, nestled in the heart of Rome with extraordinary transport links nearby and one of Europe’s largest universities also in very close proximity. As our first investment in the Italian PBSA sector, this transaction sets the tone as we seek to increase our exposure to student housing throughout the country, delivering grade A products in cities with strong university populations  where there is a limited supply of available quality product and strong demand from students.”

Gunther Deutsch, Managing Director and Head of European Transactions at Barings Real Estate, said: “PBSA is currently one of the most sought-after real estate asset classes and we are keen to expand our exposure in this sector across Europe alongside our already strong logistics and residential holdings. In recent years we have been very successful in acquiring a couple of value add PBSA schemes in the UK, including St Gabriel’s Hall in Manchester a few months ago , and our focus is now set as well on our other countries in which we invest like the Nordics, Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, as well as continuing to do so in Italy. We like to partner/JV with developers and operators at an early stage to help our partners to secure the land, providing overall higher returns to our investors. We also continue to be on the lookout for residential opportunities like build to rent or built to sell.” 

Contacts
Polly Warrack/Ben Monteith (SEC Newgate)
baringsRE@secnewgate.co.uk

Barings Real Estate
Barings Real Estate (BRE) is a part of Barings and offers a broad range of global investment opportunities across the private debt and equity investment markets. BRE invests in all major property sectors and offers an expansive range of financing solutions to real estate borrowers.  Follow us on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/showcase/barings-alternative-investments.

About Barings
Barings is a $406+ billion* global asset management firm that partners with institutional, insurance, and intermediary clients, and supports leading businesses with flexible financing solutions. The firm, a subsidiary of MassMutual, seeks to deliver excess returns by leveraging its global scale and capabilities across public and private markets in fixed income, real assets and capital solutions. Learn more at Barings.com.

*As of March 31, 2024