The Madrid-based fund Plenium Partners, through the instrumental company Green Flake V, has acquired the Colegio Mayor Sant Jordi, until now owned by the Universitat de Barcelona (UB), through a public auction tender. With a starting price of 19 million euros, the property was finally auctioned for 24.56 million to Green Flake V. Two other companies, Fornells Servicios Empresariales and Merlin Properties, also participated in the auction. A third company, Axpil Proyectos, also participated but eventually withdrew.
With this operation, Plenium Partners is betting on the world of university residences, a sector in full expansion that is attracting the interest of multiple investors. According to Savills Aguirre Newman, this type of property managed to absorb around 8.4 billion euros in Europe during 2021, a figure that is expected to grow in 2022 and match the 2019 record, when 9.5 billion euros were mobilized.
Until now, the fund managed by former bankers Juan Ignacio Martí Junco and Iñigo Gortázar has focused on renewable energies. Some of the latest operations it has carried out include the purchase of FCC's renewable business, FM Renovables, and the acquisition of a thermoelectric power plant in the Valencian Community.
Green Flake V is a newly created company. Since March 2021, its sole shareholder has been Plenium Partners. The company changed its corporate purpose last January, dedicating itself to the construction, management, and operation of student residences.
A long sales process
With Friday's sale, the UB will cease to be linked to the residence hall next August. Since the university's intention to auction it was announced, some residents expressed concern, fearing that the entry of a private operator would cause prices to rise and cease to be affordable for families.
Getting rid of the property has been a long process for the UB. In 2018, the university approved the necessary report to justify the sale. In it, the university argued that it had detected that between 30% and 40% of the students who had stayed at the Colegio Mayor Sant Jordi in recent years were not pursuing degrees there. Likewise, it pointed out that it had the capacity to cover the demand for accommodation places for its students with the other university residences and halls of residence, both its own and those linked by agreement. It also stated the need to obtain liquidity.
Once the report was presented, the Generalitat defended that the special urban plan had to be modified, with the aim of enabling the facility to be privately owned. In July 2020, the UB and the Barcelona City Council signed the urban agreement that was to allow the modification, which was approved months later in the municipal plenary session. This agreement established a maximum price for 25% of the places, calculated from a 35% reduction of the average price of places in the city. In mid-2021, the Generalitat ratified the auction of the property, an operation that culminated this Friday.
Capacity for 234 students
Located in the Sarrià-Sant Gervasi district, the Colegio Mayor Sant Jordi has a total built area of 8,110 square meters, which is distributed in two buildings, with two basements, where the common services are located, such as the library, the gym, the study room, the auditorium, the kitchen and the dining room, and nine floors, where the rooms are mostly located. Specifically, it has 128 rooms, single and double, with a capacity for 234 students. It also has a sports center and a car park.
The college was founded in 1953 on Mestre Nicolau street. In 2006, the UB moved the facility to a new building, 700 meters from the original location, on Can Ràbia street. The construction had a cost of 8.5 million euros and served to have larger and more adequate facilities for the new needs of students.