The Board of Empiric Student Property plc (ticker: ESP) is pleased to announce that the Group has acquired the freehold of a property which comprises the conversion of a terrace of Grade II listed buildings into a luxury, direct-let, student accommodation asset on Claremont Place, in Newcastle.  The property is currently owned and is being developed by specialist developer, Ziggurat Student Living ("Ziggurat") and is expected to be operational by September 2015, in time for the 2015/16 academic year.

The property is immediately adjacent to Newcastle University and within a ten minute walk of Newcastle city centre.  To the north of the property lies Town Moor, a large public park, which a number of the rooms will have a view over, and beyond that is the area of Jesmond which is widely considered to be one of the most prosperous suburbs and especially popular with more affluent students.

The property is being developed to a high specification and comprises 88 self-contained studio apartments of varying sizes, over half of which are suitable for double occupancy.  The property is currently taking bookings for the 2015/16 academic year.  Atelier Property Asset Management (a company related to Ziggurat), will continue to manage the property on behalf of Empiric.

The acquisition price is £11 million and the Group will benefit from a 100% rental guarantee from the developer for the 2015/16 academic year.

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

"Newcastle is an ideal target city for Empiric - an exciting student city with two popular universities.  Newcastle University is a Russell Group university which attracts some 23,000 students from around the world and with a high proportion of post-graduate students. Northumbria University, one of the largest universities in the UK, is a research-rich, business-focused institution with over 28,000 students. This acquisition is in line with Empiric's investment criteria and returns profile."