EQT Exeter is pleased to announce that EQT Real Estate Fund I (“EQT Exeter”) has agreed to sell Hönsfodret 1 (the “Property” or “Southside”) to Alecta Fastigheter, the real estate company fully owned by Alecta, one of Sweden’s largest pension fund managers.

EQT Exeter acquired the Property in June 2018 after having recognized the need for modern educational-use assets as particularly high in central Stockholm due to the city’s demographic development and rapidly increasing population. The Property, located on the island of Södermalm in Stockholm, was a half vacant, mixed-use building comprising a school and office space at the time of the acquisition.

In collaboration with AcadeMedia, a leading education provider in Northern Europe, EQT Exeter developed a clear strategy to refurbish the Property into a prime education building with an increased lettable area. EQT Exeter and AcadeMedia signed a 16-year lease to realize the vision for “Campus Södermalm” that will host four Upper Secondary Schools for approximately 2,200 students.

Under its tenure, EQT Exeter obtained a building permit to expand the Property from approximately 9,500 sqm NLA (Net Lettable Area) to more than 14,000 sqm by exercising the unutilized building rights. EQT Exeter has also undertaken actions to meet the industry standard BREEAM In-Use “Very Good” in the final detailed design. Throughout the development process, EQT Exeter has prioritized environmentally friendly building techniques and incorporated multiple key sustainability features as part of the process of securing key constituent consent. These efforts include recycling of construction materials, efficiency improvements via real-time energy usage monitoring and upgrades to the building fabric to improve its thermal performance.

Campus Södermalm will promote a healthy lifestyle with prominence of the stairwells over elevators, a gym and conversion of former car parking to a generous amount of bicycle parking spaces to encourage students to choose active means of transportation to and from school. Moreover, the adjacent local community will be able to enjoy a publicly accessible, student-operated café, bakery and restaurant on the ground floor of the Property. EQT Exeter and its building contractor Zengun are currently in the final stages of completing the development which is expected to take place during Q2 2022, ahead of the academic year 2022/23.

Henrik Orrbeck, Partner within EQT Exeter’s Advisory Team, said:

“We are proud to hand over the Property to Alecta after a successful transformation project where we have turned a half-vacant building with poor energy performance into a flagship “green” campus that meets modern demands for attractive and inspiring education premises. This transaction perfectly exemplifies the investment philosophy of EQT’s real estate platform, EQT Exeter, using our value-creation toolbox to deliver a core building into the highly sought-after institutional real estate market of Sweden. We would like to thank our contractor Zengun and project manager Tjuren Projektpartner for a well-managed construction process and, of course, our tenant AcadeMedia for trusting us to develop their new flagship campus.”

Jenny Lindholm, CIO, Alecta Fastigheter, said:

“We are very pleased with this acquisition, it’s completely in line with our ambition to drive sustainable and long-term development in attractive growth areas. This state-of-the-art educational property that will meet the standards for BREEAM In-Use “Very Good” certification further strengthens our position within the community service segment. We look forward to working closely with the tenant, Academedia, and together develop the environment for the four schools that will move in next year.”

The transaction is expected to close in Q3 2022. EQT Exeter was advised by AG Advokat (Legal), Savills (Commercial), and Tjuren Projektpartner (Technical).