Moorfield Real Estate Fund III (MREFIII) has sold its premium student apartment scheme, Century Sq in Sheffield, to iQ Student Accommodation. iQ Student Accommodation is one of the largest providers of student accommodation in the UK, providing homes to over 24,000 students.
Century Sq offers a mix of 305 studio, twodio and multi-bedroom/cluster apartments with extensive communal facilities. The scheme is centrally located in close proximity to the University of Sheffield’s campus and is one of the largest private purpose built schemes in the city.
MREFIII purchased the site in 2015 and having secured planning consent for the change of use, developed Century Sq in partnership with Worthington Properties. The scheme opened in 2016 when full occupancy was achieved.
Commenting on the disposal on behalf of MREFIII, Charles Ferguson-Davie, Chief Investment Officer of Moorfield, said: “We identified the student market in Sheffield as having attractive supply and demand dynamics and we are proud to have developed such a successful scheme that is so popular with the students. We had planned to hold the investment for longer but the off market approach from iQ resulted in an early realisation of our business plan.
“Moorfield has now developed and operated some 5,000 student beds and we will continue to look for investment opportunities in the sector, as well as adding to our investments in the Build to Rent sector, which now comprises a platform of some 1,300 beds across five schemes.”
Iliya Blazic, Chief Investment Officer of iQ commented “Sheffield is a vibrant and growing city which has seen major investment in recent years. We are pleased to be contributing to that with our investment in Century Square, and recent investments to enhance our Brocco, Steel and Fenton House sites. In total we now provide 2,435 Sheffield students with high quality, safe homes from which to make the most of their university years.”