Azora has acquired from the joint venture formed by Lasalle-Urbania a student residence in Cerdanyola del Vallés, Barcelona. The property, which is already operational, covers a total area of 14,500 m² and features 610 single en-suite rooms, 196 of which include a kitchen. The residence also offers rooms adapted for short stays, designed for faculty, researchers, and professionals connected to nearby universities or local companies.
The architectural project was designed by OUA, the interior design by Triscaideca, and construction was carried out by Serom under the supervision of Bovis by the project management team of CBRE, with Azor as FF&E provider. Cushman & Wakefield acted as environmental advisor. Developed to high sustainability standards, the asset has obtained BREEAM Excellent certification.
The property features extensive common areas that encourage community life and well-being, with amenities including a fully equipped gym; two swimming pools, one located on the rooftop; a cafeteria offering half- and full-board services; collaborative study areas and silent rooms to facilitate concentration. Additionally, it has a cinema room, spaces for meetings and exhibitions, and a landscaped interior courtyard with comfortable seating areas.
The residence is located in the new Parc d’Alba area, a prestigious and well-connected business environment, a 10-minute walk from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and a 20-minute bike ride from Esade, which hosts companies such as Natura Bissé, Stradivarius, and the ALBA Synchrotron—Spain’s only electron accelerator complex—producing synchrotron light and serving more than 2,500 annual users.
The acquisition was completed by Azora Private (AP), the Azora Group division focused on providing comprehensive advisory and management services to private investors, aimed at identifying investment opportunities and creating club deals to co-invest alongside private investors and family offices.
Among the transactions closed by AP since its launch in 2025, notable deals include advising the Mango founders’ family office in the acquisition of the brand’s logistics platform in Barcelona for €165 million. Additionally, Azora Private has completed the acquisition of two logistics platforms in the U.S. (Dallas and Philadelphia) worth $106 million, three office buildings in Miami worth $143 million, and a portfolio of two retail properties in Florida and Chicago totaling $11.4 million. All these transactions were carried out together with various Latin American and Spanish family offices.
This new operation leverages Azora’s extensive experience in the student housing sector, a market in which it was already a pioneer by creating over a decade ago the largest PBSA portfolio in continental Europe, sold in 2017. It follows Azora’s return to the sector with the acquisition from EQT Exeter of a significant portfolio of residences in Spain in 2024.
As Ignacio Gil-Casares, partner at Azora Private, points out: “We are very pleased to add this new PBSA asset in Barcelona to our portfolio, given the strong appetite of private investors for this type of product in a market experiencing significant growth, driven by high demand and still limited supply. This acquisition aligns with our goal of supporting private investors in building global, diversified portfolios tailored to their objectives, leveraging our capacity for opportunity sourcing, analysis, and execution in key markets. This business line has become one of Azora’s strategic growth pillars.”
Blake Loveless, Head of Value-Add Investments, Europe, LaSalle, adds: “We are extremely pleased with this successful exit, which demonstrates the execution of our European value-add strategy. By partnering with Urbania to develop this institutional-quality PBSA asset from scratch, we have generated attractive returns for our investors while creating a top-tier student residence in a high-demand location. This transaction validates our conviction in the European living sector and our ability to execute complex development projects that generate long-term value in our target markets.”
Jeffrey Sújar, Managing Partner of Urbania Living, comments: “We are very satisfied with the sale of this exceptional asset to Azora, which is part of our planned divestment strategy together with LaSalle IM. The project has met all our objectives, delivering a highly sustainable development with BREEAM Excellent certification that will set a benchmark in this high-demand university area.”
As part of its international growth strategy and to strengthen its private investor management business, Azora decided to transform Azora Exan, the platform previously used to manage private investors in the U.S., into a global private investor management platform. The company announced in April its firm intention to double Azora Private’s assets under management with private investors and family offices to €4 billion within five years.
About Azora
Azora Capital, operating in the pan-European and U.S. real assets markets, is a leading alternative investment manager with €14.6 billion in assets under management. Azora has over 20 years of experience successfully developing and managing value-added investment strategies based on global megatrends, with a special focus on operationally intensive asset classes.
To date, Azora has achieved a combined net IRR of 19% across all its investments, leveraging its expertise to provide investors with exceptional long-term value and alpha. Azora was founded in 2003 by Concha Osácar and Fernando Gumuzio and employs over 600 professionals across three offices in Europe and the U.S. Azora prides itself on its inclusive and entrepreneurial culture and its vision to be a force for change in the world through its commitment to the highest levels of environmental and social sustainability.
For more information, please visit:https://www.azora.com
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