The Board of Empiric Student Property plc is pleased to announce that the Group has exchanged contracts, subject to planning, on a forward funded development in Glasgow. The scheme, known as 155 George Street, consists of an 89 bed, premium student accommodation development in Glasgow.

The Group will acquire the freehold development, which currently comprises a vacant office building extending over basement, ground and six upper floors. The site is in close proximity to the University of Glasgow, directly opposite Strathclyde University's main John Anderson campus and will be developed into 87 self-contained studios and one two bed apartment. Once all the Group's properties are complete, this acquisition will increase the Group's presence in Glasgow to 440 beds.

KR Developments Ltd will undertake the development of the property on behalf of Empiric and are expected to be on-site in the spring of 2016 with delivery of the scheme scheduled for summer 2017, in time for the 2017/18 academic year.

The full amount required for the development will be invested in stages against development milestones. The Company will receive an income return from the developer on funds invested during the development period.

Paul Hadaway, Chief Executive of Empiric Student Property plc, commented:

"This acquisition complements Empiric's existing student accommodation assets in Glasgow, a city with 53,000 full-time students at five higher education establishments; the third largest student population in the UK outside London. Within the city 23% of students are international and 21% are post-graduates. Once all properties are complete, Empiric will own 440 operating beds in this Russell Group University city, which will help to drive further operational efficiencies and economies of scale. This acquisition is in line with Empiric's investment criteria and returns profile."