A specialist subsidiary of Singapore-listed CapitaLand has acquired a luxury serviced apartment project in London on behalf of a joint fund with Qatar Investment Authority for £52 mln (€67 mln).
Ascott, CapitaLand's serviced-residential business purchased Citadines Islington London from Sager Group and Cain Hoy. The new hospitality scheme will provide 108 serviced apartments from 2018.
The project is part of the Islington Square, the transformation of the Royal Mail's London mail centre, off Islington’s Upper Street, into a new £450 mln, 1.8-hectare mixed-use destination for London. Alongside the serviced apartments, Islington Square will provide 263 new homes and 16,000 m2 of retail and leisure facilities.
Ascott and Qatar's sovereign wealth fund established the £420 mln global fund in a 50:50 joint venture in 2015 to invest in serviced residences and rental housing properties. The fund has already acquired two serviced residence schemes in Paris and Tokyo.
Ascott CEO Lee Chee Koon said: 'Ascott's fund with QIA provides the financial boost to support our growth to achieve our global target of 80,000 apartment units by 2020. The addition of Citadines Islington London will strengthen Ascott's position as one of the largest international serviced residence operators in Europe, with assets of over Singapore $1.5 bn (€980 mln). We aim to double our portfolio in Europe to 10,000 units by 2020.'
Alfred Ong, Ascott's managing director for Europe, added that Citadines Islington London is located in the heart of Islington close to the West End; the City of London and the Old Street/Tech City IT hub. 'Islington Square will create a new Covent Garden style destination for London. The area surrounding Citadines Islington London houses multinational corporations such as Amazon, Barclays, Facebook, Intel as well as Google which bought a site at King’s Cross for their £1 bn headquarters.'
