The Student Hotel Company Targets Spain for Growth

Main Photo: The Student Hotel, Madrid and Barcelona – imagined

Date: November 2019

Location: Plaza de Espana, Madrid, Barcelona, Spain

Name: The Madrid La Imprenta, Barcelona Provencals

No. of Keys: 340 and 300

Seller: Madrid is a refurbishment of an existing complex.

Buyer: Amsterdam-based operator, developer and investor The Student Hotel has secured €90 million in financing for the development of two new hotels in Madrid and Barcelona, as well as refinancing for its existing assets in Spain..

The financing was provided by a syndicate of three banks and forms part of a €2 billion accelerated investment program by TSH that is expected to result in the company’s Spanish portfolio growing in value from 10 percent to about a quarter of its operating portfolio.

TSH operates 4,400 guestrooms with another 6,326 in development.

“Spain is a key target market within The Student Hotel’s European expansion strategy due to its increasing attractiveness as an international student base and its draw as a major tourist destination,” said Lucas Rijckmans, chief corporate services at TSH.

“A growing number of academic exchange and summer school programs is further driving the demand for high-quality short-stay student accommodations, particularly in Madrid and Barcelona, where there is a severe shortage of supply. By mid-2021, we expect our total Spanish investments to exceed €200 million.”

Santander, Sabadell and HSBC provided the €90 million in financing and allocated across the bulk of TSH’s development projects and standing assets in Spain.

According to Christie & Co.’s recently published 2019 report on the hotel market in Spain, “with three projects in Madrid, Barcelona and San Sebastián, TSH will be the hotel operator that will generate the largest number of rooms in the cities it studied.” The report also concluded TSH would be the fastest-growing operator to target the student segment in Spain in the coming years.

The company has three projects slated to open in 2021 already underway. The Madrid La Imprenta is a refurbishment of an existing complex on the Plaza de España to create a 340-room hotel with Collab co-working space.

The new-build 300-room Barcelona Provençals will have the largest Collab co-working space in Europe at more than 3,500 square metres. Notably, this hotel will be open to all guests, unlike the students-only Barcelona Poble Sec and Barcelona Marina properties, which opened in 2007 and 2009, respectively.

The 328-room new-build TSH San Sebastian is not yet included in the recent TSH bank financing package.

Next year, properties will open in Vienna, Bologna and Delft. By the end of 2022, hotels will have opened in Madrid, San Sebastian, Barcelona, Paris, Toulouse, Carcavelos Lisbon, Porto, Rome, Florence Belfiore and Florence Manifattura Tabacchi.

THPT Comment: Wow serious expansion…good to see they have serious funding in place, from the likes of Santander, Sabadell and HSBC.

First Seen: Hotel Management

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