This announcement has come about after the integration of a new partner, the asset manager Atrium, a company created in 2014 by two Portuguese entrepreneurs. The plan also intends to extend the network to other points of the country beyond Lisbon, Porto, for example.
The obvious lack of student accommodation in the Portuguese market, at a time when the number of foreign students moving to our country continues to rise, it is an opportunity which U.Hub wants to take advantage of. “We are looking for suitable residences, mostly between 100 and 200 rooms, implying large investments, both in Lisbon and Porto”, revealed the founder member Hugo Gonçalves Pereira, as quoted by the Idealista portal.
In total, the firm has already invested more than 7 million euros in three assets, already in their portfolio, using capital both self-funded and from the banks. The first residence opened in the zone of Almeda, beside the IST, by means of a partnership, resulting in the handing over of a building under a long-term rental contract, which led to the restructuring of the building by U-Hub, transforming it into a unit with 32 rooms.
In February 2016, the company opened its second residence with 40 rooms and studios in Picoas and, lastly, one other with 66 rooms in Alvalade, in a former office block which was also remodelled for its new function.
The overwhelming majority of its occupants are foreign students (72%).