-‎Wire-

 BlackSand Capital, a Bahrain-based investment firm, plans to launch a UK Student Accommodation Fund valued at more than $160 million, targeting purpose-built student housing in leading UK university cities. The firm disclosed the plan alongside news that it has completed over $250 million in UK real estate acquisitions, lifting its total UK investment above $400 million.

Savills has launched the entire East Town Building in Wan Chai for sale, offering a 21-storey property with 144,395 sq ft gross floor area and existing tenancies, positioned for potential conversion into student accommodation.

Angus Property Development, led by Theo Onisforou, received concept approval for a $53 million mixed-use project featuring 250 co-living rooms at 290–294 Botany Road, Alexandria, south of Sydney’s CBD.

Gilbane Development and Rocky Mountain Companies, in partnership with the University of Idaho, completed Vandal Village, a 200,000-square-foot graduate and family housing complex on the Moscow campus, featuring 240 units and 451 beds to support diverse student housing needs.

Saginaw Valley State University’s Board of Control approved up to $32 million to purchase the eastern portion of Campus Village Apartments, adding 357 student housing units renamed Cardinal Corners to meet rising on-campus housing demand.

Western Kentucky University, in partnership with Gilbane Development, broke ground on The Southern Gateway, a new, $350 million student housing complex, according to an announcement from the school.

Greystar is entering the Italian student housing market with the 400-bed Mascarella project in Bologna, addressing a significant gap between student accommodation demand and professionally managed supply in a city with 87,000 students, 63% of whom come from outside the area.

Seoul’s co-living supply has surged nearly 22-fold since 2017, driven by a rise in single-person households now comprising 40.5 percent of the city’s population, attracting major institutional investors like Morgan Stanley, CPP Investments, and GIC to develop and convert properties into co-living spaces across prime districts.

The Social Hub has submitted plans for a £200m, 580-bed mixed-use development with extensive amenities and public space on Edinburgh’s former Fountain Brewery site, supporting wider Fountainbridge regeneration.

The University of Glasgow has appointed Lovat’s Group to deliver hard facilities management across its student accommodation estate under an initial three-year contract. The engineering specialist will provide a predominantly self-delivered service backed by its 24/7 Service Desk and compliance team.