Monday January 13 2025
Swindon & Wiltshire News
The vertical race to become Bristol’s tallest building is hotting up after asset manager Cain International announced its acquisition of St James House with developer Olympian Homes.
At 28 storeys St James House will be taller than the 98-metre Castle Park View.
St James House, next to the St James Barton roundabout – colloquially known as the Bearpit – will provide 574 beds and bring Cain’s Purpose-Built Student Accommodation equity platform to a total gross development value of approximately £800 million.
Cain said it had delivered 3,000 beds across the UK, following the development of five PBSA assets completed in 2023.
The building, on the site of the former Haymarket Premier Inn, will comprise two towers: one featuring 442 beds, and the other offering 132 larger co-living units.
The asset will include approximately 15,000 sq ft of premium amenity space, including a cinema room, a fitness suite, study areas, a games room, and group dining facilities.
The development is targeting BREEAM Excellent and WiredScore Platinum certifications. Completion is targeted for the 2028/29 academic year.
RG Group have been appointed to deliver the scheme, further extending the relationship between Olympian & RG group.
Oliver Cummings, managing director, head of PBSA, Europe at Cain, said: “Home to two major universities, Bristol has seen consistent growth in student numbers to around 70,000 in 2023 representing around 10 per cent of the resident population.
“Securing an asset in such a central location with convenient transport links, positions us well to meet the strong demand while reinforcing our commitment to delivering high-quality well-amenitised PBSA developments in Russell Group university cities.”
James Lindridge, COO & development director at Olympian, added: “The scheme when complete, will be the tallest in Bristol, representing high quality design and helping to resolve the undersupply of purpose built student accommodation in the city centre.”
