Amro lands in Portugal with investment in Paranhos
"Amro Partners has expanded its reach in the Iberian market with two new strategic student accommodation projects in the Spanish capital, Madrid, and in the second largest Portuguese city, Porto. Together, they will add 367 beds to the Iberian student housing market and strengthen Amro's position as a pan-Iberian PBSA (Purposed Built Student Accommodation) promoter and operator", announces the British company.
Amro becomes the most recent international company to be present in the Portuguese student housing market. Porto, and more precisely the Asprela university center in Paranhos, was the location chosen for his "first project in the poor student housing market in Portugal", the same document reads.
Scheduled to open in 2023, Amro's new residence will add 151 beds, distributed in individual studios, "twodios" and double rooms with services included, as well as various support equipment such as study rooms, terraces, and gym, a MasterChef room, paddle court, and outdoor green areas. The development will open in two years, in 2023, and will be operated under the Amro Estudiantes brand. In addition, the project is framed in the company's Net Zero Carbon 2030 commitment, being conceived with the objective to obtain the BREEAM seal with the classification "Outstanding".
Considered strategic, these projects bring to 2,000 the number of beds already in portfolio by Amro in the region, and are part of «an ambitious expansion plan for Iberia», which aims to build a portfolio of 5,000 beds by 2025.
However, the company has already made it known that it will continue to actively seek new student housing projects in Spain and Portugal over the next 12 months, in order to «capitalize on this initial stage of the market, in which the ratio of students to the number of beds dedicated to this niche is approximately 10:1".
The company confirms that "supported by the success achieved in the student housing market, Amro is now actively looking for opportunities in the Iberian Built to rent sector", counting to debut in this effervescent market" in the second half of 2021.
It should be noted that Amro arrived on the Iberian market three years ago, having already invested around 200 million euros in the development of student housing projects in the region – two of which were sold to Xior. Currently, in addition to projects in Porto and Madrid, it has several projects in other Spanish cities, namely Granada, Malaga, Seville, Valencia, and Pamplona.
