Legal & General (L&G) has acquired Lower Gilmore Place – a prime purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) scheme in Edinburgh for over £35m.
The scheme was acquired off market by L&G’s Managed Fund from Glencairn Properties. Knight Frank acted for the buyer and Ryden represented the vendor.
“This is the first direct-let PBSA acquisition for L&G’s Managed Fund and is a fantastic opportunity to acquire a prime scheme in central Edinburgh.
“PBSA and Operational Real Estate sectors continue to be a key growth area for the Fund and this acquisition enables the Fund to benefit from operational income as well as acquiring a best-in-class, newly developed scheme.”
Rob Codling, Senior Fund Manager, Managed Fund, Asset Management, L&G
Lower Gilmore Place consists of 151 student beds split over two phases. The first phase – 8 Lower Gilmore Place – comprises 69 beds. The scheme achieved practical completion during summer 2023.
The forward funded second phase will deliver 82 student beds once complete. Glencairn Properties assembled and developed the site and has been retained to deliver the second phase.
“Having started the site assembly in 2017, I am proud – after a long journey – to sell our Lower Gilmore Place development to L&G. PBSA has been, and will continue to act as, a catalyst for regeneration in the Fountainbridge area, bringing life to once industrial uses.
“Focussing on the living sectors, Glencairn has delivered an institutionally prime PBSA development, offering peaceful canal-side living a skimming stone away from the city centre.
“We would like to thank our team at Brodies and Ryden, along with Knight Frank and L&G, for pulling this over the line in record time.”
Daryl Teague, Managing Director, Glencairn Properties
Located in the city’s Fountainbridge area, the Lower Gilmore Place PBSA development overlooks Edinburgh Union Canal. The scheme is the latest in a series of deals in the sector, including Q Developments’ acquisition a prime Ilford site and Greystar’s purchase of two PBSA assets located in Cardiff and Exeter.
“The deal represented the culmination of a lot of hard work, and it was a pleasure working with the L&G and Glencairn teams, along with the collaboration across various services within Knight Frank, including our market-leading PBSA offering.
“The sale of Lower Gilmore Place underlines the strength and depth of investor demand for PBSA assets in Edinburgh. The supply-demand dynamic in the city is still highly favourable to developers and this scheme is in a prime location between the University of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt, and Napier.
“More widely, transactions like this point to the level of investor interest we are seeing across Russell Group university cities, given the resilience of demand from students for places at these institutions. As such, we expect more PBSA deals to follow during 2025.”
Euan Kelly, Capital Markets Partner, Knight Frank Edinburgh
L&G’s Managed Fund is the largest open-ended balanced pension fund within L&G’s Asset Management division. It has acquired almost £500m worth of assets in 2024.
