A joint venture between Melrose Capital and Alumno Group has secured a loan from Octopus Real Estate to acquire a student housing project site in the UK’s capital.

Octopus Real Estate is providing an unspecified amount to the Alumrose joint venture to acquire the site in Elephant and Castle for the development of a 244-bed student accommodation project which includes 1,500sqft of retail space on the ground floor.

James Nunn, Octopus Real Estate, said: “We’re delighted to have provided the funding required to purchase this site. We specialise in finance for transitional assets: as a non-bank lender we can tailor each loan to the requirements of the borrower.

”At Octopus Real Estate we’re committed to funding the delivery of quality accommodation, and we’re pleased to play a role in increasing the supply of student accommodation in the capital.”

David Campbell, Alumno, said: “Site origination is a key driver in our development strategy, and we are very pleased to have worked with a lender who shares our commitment to placemaking and making a positive impact on the local community. We are extremely excited about this project due to its Zone 1 location and close proximity to various university campuses.

”We are grateful to Octopus Real Estate for helping us progress and develop high quality purpose-built accommodation for hundreds of students, at a time when securing living space in the capital is harder than ever. We would also like to thank our JV partner Melrose Capital for their continued support and advice.”

Octopus Real Estate is a UK-based specialist real estate investor and lender and is part of Octopus Investments.

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