Cain International, in partnership with UK-based real estate developer Olympian Homes, has acquired St James House in Bristol. The site will deliver co-living and purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA).
Set to be the tallest in Bristol at 28-storeys, the scheme will deliver two buildings. One will house 132 larger co-living units, and the second will include student accommodation. RG Group has been appointed to deliver the scheme.
The St James House scheme will include c.15,000 sq ft of premium amenity space, and will include a cinema room, fitness suite, study areas, a games room and group dining facilities.
The development is targeting BREEAM Excellent and WiredScore Platinum certifications. The project is targeted for completion in time for the 2028/29 academic year.
“Long-term partnerships are central to Cain’s investment approach, and we are pleased to once again collaborate with Olympian Homes to deliver another high-quality asset in a prime location.”
Arvi A. I. Luoma, European Real Estate Equity, Cain
HSF (for legal) and Colliers (for commercial and technical advisory) represented Cain on the transaction, which was led by Oliver Cummings, Managing Director – Head of PBSA and Matteo Busetti, Vice President, Investments for Cain, and James Lindridge, COO & Development Director and Oliver D’Erlanger, Associate Director for Olympian. Olympian was supported by JLL PBSA advisory.
“This prime PBSA Bristol development sale to Cain is an important step in delivering our growth strategy within the UK living sector. Olympian have successfully traded and grown over the last few years and are now a market leader in developing in the UK living space.
“Our recent focus has been in deepening our development pipeline with high quality opportunities which will deliver this growth strategy over the next few years. Our consistent track record of delivering high rise, high density living assets in city centres ensures we will continue to partner with global institutional capital in successfully delivering this strategy.”
Richard Simpson, CEO, Olympian
This transaction bolsters Cain International’s growing portfolio in the living sector across both its equity and credit strategies. In 2023, the company arranged over £425m of financing across several projects in Europe including Build to Rent, PBSA and care homes.
