ESP acquires student accommodation property in Hatfield: Curzon Point

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The Board of Empiric Student Property plc (ticker: ESP) is pleased to announce that the Group has exchanged contracts to acquire a 199 year lease on a direct-let, premium student accommodation property in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, for a consideration of £9.4 million. The acquisition is expected to complete on or about 17 December 2014.
 
Curzon Point is an operating, purpose-built student accommodation property on The Common in Hatfield. The property, which was completed in August 2013, comprises 116 beds arranged in both individual studios and apartment configurations with communal facilities and has been fully occupied since completion. The property also includes a retail unit on the ground floor which is let to Pizza Hut on a 20 year lease.  It is situated in a good, central location and is currently the only existing private-sector direct-let scheme available to students at the University of Hertfordshire, which is included in The Times Higher Education 100 Under 501. 
 
The property is 100 per cent. let for the 2014/15 academic year and is managed by Corporate Residential Management Limited.
 
Paul Hadaway, Chief Executive of Empiric Student Property plc, commented:
 
"The University of Hertfordshire, with approximately 25,000 students, has a high proportion of post-graduate students, coupled with a thriving international student community.  This demographic creates a demand profile which, combined with a lack of supply of direct-let purpose-built student accommodation, makes Curzon Point an exciting acquisition for the Company, in line with its investment criteria and returns profile."