UNITE, the UK’s largest student hospitality and accommodation company, has announced that, in partnership with the University of Aberdeen, it is to deliver a further 520 new student beds for the 2008 academic year.
Against the backdrop of the current student housing shortages in Aberdeen, UNITE's £25m investment at Hillhead is a welcome addition to the student housing stock in the City.
Phase 1 of the comprehensive redevelopment of the University's Hillhead campus will occupy a 2.3 acre area on the site of the former Carnegie Hall.
The Hillhead development will comprise a four-storey quadrangle development with en-suite bedrooms configured in five bed cluster flats, each of which shares a full kitchen and living room area. The scheme will benefit from utilising market leading off site manufacturing technology, with complete bedrooms being constructed in UNITE's own factory, and then transported to site for assembly.
UNITE conditionally acquired the long ground-lease interest in the site in September 2006 and obtained detailed planning consent in March of this year. Construction of the modular development is currently underway, and UNITE is working with local contractor Stewart Milne on the project.
UNITE operates some 1,300 beds in Aberdeen at its sites along the King Street corridor at King Street Exchange, Old Fire Station, Mealmarket, and Spring Garden. These rooms are mainly targeted at the second and third year student market, but with the current accommodation shortages in the City, first year students are also attracted to the properties. UNITE offers a range of accommodation packages to students from both universities in Aberdeen.
Jim Pike, Acquisition and Development Director for UNITE in Scotland, commented:
"UNITE is committed to providing high quality student accommodation across Scotland and is delighted to be contributing towards a solution to the current shortage of first year student housing in Aberdeen.
"University applications in Scotland are continuing to increase year on year and there is high demand for the provision of high quality student accommodation. With a range of successful established developments around Scotland we are continuing into 2008 with a variety of new developments to meet this demand.
"It's been fantastic to have such a positive relationship with the University of Aberdeen and we look forward to developing this while meeting the demands of the growing student population in the city"
Angus Donaldson, Director of Estates, University of Aberdeen, said:
"The drive to redevelop and refurbish the Hillhead campus has been a well planned ambition by the University. In order to fulfil pastoral commitments to first year students it was clear that further student accommodation would need to be developed. Hillhead was the obvious choice for such an expansion, being the existing first year campus and having sufficient land to allow a phased redevelopment.
"As part of providing an excellent educational experience to our students, we also need to provide our first years with comfortable, safe, and modern accommodation. Part of the delivery of this accommodation strategy involves working with private sector partners to deliver and manage new accommodation. This development, along with our existing stock, reinforces our contribution to affordable accommodation in Aberdeen."
For further details please contact:
Anne-Marie McGarrity Telephone: 0161 848 6776
UNITE Group plc Email: href="mailto:anne-marie.mcgarrity@unite-group.co.uk">anne-marie.mcgarrity@unite-group.co.uk</a></p>
Mary Folan Telephone: 0131 272 2733
Golley Slater Email: href="mailto:mary.folan@golleyslater.co.uk">mary.folan@golleyslater.co.uk</a></p>