The University of Birmingham has entered a long-term partnership with Equitix and EQUANS to deliver world-class facilities at Pritchatts Park Student Village.
The redevelopment of Pritchatts Park, which gives students quick and easy access to the heart of campus, plays an integral role in helping the University to achieve this goal. EQUANS, alongside their equity partner Equitix, are transforming Pritchatts Park into a state-of-the-art, low-carbon accommodation in collaboration with the University of Birmingham. Equitix and EQUANS have now successfully reached financial close, marking the official start of the development.
To enhance the student and staff on-campus experience, the project will see some existing accommodation refurbished and 496 new, high-quality student homes built, along with a multi-storey car park.
Pritchatts Park Residence Project is the University’s first ever low-carbon accommodation, giving students some of the best living spaces possible.
This transaction represents an opportunity for Equitix and EQUANS to expand their student accommodation portfolio with the highly ranked Russell Group University alongside highly experienced development partners.
Simon Bray, Director of Campus Services at the University of Birmingham, said: “Outstanding global education is at the core of our mission; the University is passionate about investing in high-quality, affordable accommodation for our students to enhance their on-campus experience while they study with us. We look forward to working with Equitix and EQUANS.”
Hugh Crossley, Chief Executive for Equitix, said: “We are delighted to work with University of Birmingham and be part of their continued growth and success and are pleased to extend our strong track record in developing and operating outstanding accommodation that exceeds residents’ expectations.”
Jake Fellows, Regional Operations Director at EQUANS, said: “EQUANS has a multifaceted offer which spans construction, regeneration, energy and zero carbon technologies; so, we are perfectly placed to bring the University of Birmingham’s vision for a low-carbon, high quality student campus to life.
“We are delighted to have reached financial close on this hugely significant project as the year draws to a close. Every partner involved in this deal is passionate about its success and our respective equity stakes in the scheme, speak to this.”
Equitix and EQUANS will build the accommodation, to be delivered by September 2024. The project, which has had extensive design input from student representatives, will also see improvements to students’ social spaces and increase the number of rooms available for those with accessibility requirements. Pritchatts House and the new build townhouses have been designed to support an energy efficient construction and operation criteria, aligning with Equitix’s, EQUANS’s and University of Birmingham’s long term sustainable investment strategy.
For media enquiries please contact Danann Swanton, University of Birmingham.
The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world’s top 100 institutions, its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers and teachers and more than 6,500 international students from over 150 countries.
Read more about our plans for Pritchatts Park.
Equitix is a leading global investor, developer, and long-term fund manager of core infrastructure assets.
Founded in 2007, Equitix has long been a trusted partner, investor and developer in a diversified portfolio of core infrastructure assets. Building long-term partnerships has been a core value of Equitix since inception, leading to an extensive network of relationships across the core infra structure market.
EQUANS brings together ENGIE’s UK & Ireland services-led activity under a new brand. All of ENGIE’s UK & Ireland activity in technical services & facilities management, energy efficiency and regeneration are now part of EQUANS – along with our specialist energy related capabilities: in smart buildings, green mobility, district & embedded energy and decentralised renewables.
Formed by ENGIE Group in July 2021, EQUANS is a new global market leader in the sector with 74,000 employees, leveraging over 200 years of expertise. It has revenues of €12 billion and a presence in 17 countries, mostly across Europe but also with significant interests in North America, Latin America and Australasia.
With the mission to connect, power and protect, to build an efficient, safe and connected world - EQUANS combines its expertise to empower businesses and communities to fully embrace the energy, digital and industrial transitions that are reshaping the way we use energy, as well as move, work and live.
EQUANS is part of the ENGIE Group, which globally employs 170,000 people worldwide and achieved revenues €55.8 billion in 2020.
