Intelligent Real Estate Investments - Hines

Bocconi University Selects aparto Milan Giovenale for Student Accommodation in Italy

Bocconi University students will be able to access a revolutionary product for the Italian market at favorable rates beginning September 2022

(MILAN) - aparto Milan Giovenale, a building owned by a joint venture between Hines and Blue Noble and its first student housing in Italy, has been selected by Bocconi University to respond to growing demand from its national and international students and visiting professors for accommodation. Beginning September 2022, 60% of the student housing beds in the building will be reserved for Bocconi students and professors, who will be able to benefit from favorable rates.

The aparto brand, 100% owned by the international real estate firm Hines, now manages student accommodations in Italy, having successfully expanded its platform into Europe following ongoing success in the UK and Ireland across 13 sites, 5,000 beds and over 70,000 square meters of space.

The prestigious Milanese university has selected aparto Milan Giovenale due to the site’s location and the brand’s track record of delivering first-class student accommodation, with a market-leading experience program and health and safety record. aparto Milan Giovenale is set to open in January 2022 and aims to bridge the gap between supply and demand for high-quality student accommodation in the city.

The aparto Milan Giovenale residence spans a total area of 16,000 square meters, providing 600 beds and a wide array of features such as study rooms, a gym with Technogym equipment, a yoga room, laundry facilities and a cinema as well as outdoor areas with gardens, basketball and workout fields. The complex will also host outdoor food and beverage spaces which will be publicly accessible. Upon opening, aparto Milan Giovenale will be the first LEED Gold-certified university residence in Italy, as it was designed and built according to the highest international standards of environmental sustainability and energy efficiency.

The development of aparto Milan Giovenale is the result of a long-term partnership between Hines, as investor and development manager, and majority investor Blue Noble, and it is owned by the Living 2.0 Fund managed by Savills Investment Management SGR.

“Today is an important moment for the student housing sector in Italy and we’re delighted to announce this project with the world-renowned academic institution, Bocconi University,” said Mario Abbadessa, Senior Managing Director & Country Head of Hines Italy. “We strongly believe in the development of human capital and because of this we continue to invest in the student accommodation sector to help develop the next generation of talent. Milan is a dynamic and lively city that is anticipated to grow its student numbers by 20-30% in the coming years, and we are innovating via our aparto platform to meet this need.”

“We are delighted to welcome Bocconi University to aparto Milan Giovenale,” said Paul Forshaw, Founding Partner and CEO of Blue Noble. “At Blue Noble, we recognize the importance of investing in projects which not only offer first-class facilities, but also leading standards of environmental sustainability and energy efficiency. aparto Milan Giovenale will provide Bocconi University with an excellent facility to accommodate its ever-growing demand from national and international students and visiting professors.”

About Hines

Hines is a privately owned global real estate investment firm founded in 1957 with a presence in 255 cities in 27 countries. Hines oversees investment assets under management valued at approximately $83.6 billion¹. In addition, Hines provides third-party property-level services to more than 367 properties totaling 138.3 million square feet. Historically, Hines has developed, redeveloped or acquired approximately 1,486 properties, totaling over 492 million square feet. The firm has more than 171 developments currently underway around the world. With extensive experience in investments across the risk spectrum and all property types, and a foundational commitment to ESG, Hines is one of the largest and most-respected real estate organizations in the world.

Since entering Europe in 1991, Hines has grown its European platform to include offices in 16 cities as well as a presence in 62 cities in 13 countries. Hines oversees investment assets under management valued at approximately €21.7 billion and provides third-party property-level services totaling 3.9 million square meters in Europe, in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom.

Visit www.hines.com for more information.

1. Includes both the global Hines organization as well as RIA AUM as of 30 June 2021.

About aparto

aparto is Hines’ student accommodation platform, which comprises c100 staff running 13 sites across the UK and Ireland, and two newly launched sites in Italy. Its vision is to be the leading student living operator in Europe, with a special focus on great service and genuine community creation. The platform creates a residential experience tailored to each asset’s unique location including hosting on-site events and networking, operations and design services, a wide-range of amenity provision and extensive health and safety management.

For more information, please visit here

LinkedIn - @apartostudent

Instagram and Facebook@apartoitaly

Follow us on LinkedIn here

About Blue Noble

Blue Noble LLP (‘Blue Noble’) is an independent, full service real estate investment management company, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’). Blue Noble was founded in 2017 by a team of experienced real estate professionals, previously from HSBC Alternative Investments Limited.

Blue Noble offers specialist real estate investment management globally for both private and institutional investors through club deals, separate accounts and funds. Blue Noble has a substantial and diversified asset base along with significant equity capital to deploy.

Visit www.bluenoble.co.uk for more information about the firm.