Investment firms Elkstone and Harrison Street are set to develop student accommodation with 345 beds on Queen Street in Galway city.
The project is due for completion in 2026 and forms part of a wider partnership between the firms to deliver 1,500 purpose-built student beds across Limerick, Cork, Dublin and Galway by 2028.
Queen Street purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) marks the partnership's first significant investment in the west of Ireland and will help to meet growing demand for student beds in the region.
Almost 13,000 undergraduates require housing in the city, which has just under 6,000 student beds at present.
The eight-storey building will feature amenities such as common study areas, a gym, bicycle storage, a cinema room, rooftop terrace, and a 24/7 reception.
It will be located a five-minute walk from the Ceannt train station and a 15-minute walk from the University of Galway.
“The development of Queen Street represents a notable expansion within the student housing sector to meet the growing demand in Ireland’s third largest student market,” said Paul Bashir, CEO of Harrison Street Europe.
“We are proud to continue our partnership with Elkstone and collaborate on bringing this premium student housing asset to an undersupplied region.”
Ciaran McIntyre, co-founder and head of real estate at Elkstone, added that the firm wants to help support Ireland’s infrastructure.
"For us, it is about connecting real capital to meaningful projects at scale. By opening access for local Irish investors to co-invest alongside global industry leaders like Harrison Street, we can provide modern and liveable spaces that both represent and further bolster communities.
"Queen Street is just one example of the thousands of sustainable and high quality, purpose-built student accommodation units we are developing right now across the island."
Elkstone opened its Galway office in 2019 led by managing director and head of private Joe Bergin, and has delivered 100 student beds in the city to date.
Queen Street will be the second PBSA development by the Elkstone-Harrison Street partnership following the opening of the 142-bed Stoneybatter Place in Dublin.
Monami Construction, the main contractor for Stoneybatter Place, has been appointed as the main contractor on the Queen Street project, and Mezzino will operate the property.
Development finance for both Queen Street and Stoneybatter Place projects is being provided by Activate Capital.
Speaking onsite, Mayor of the City of Galway Cllr Peter Keane welcomed the substantial financial investment and thanked Elkstone, Harrison Street, and Monami for their continued commitment to delivering what he described as "an A-rated and world-class city centre student accommodation that will cater for the burgeoning number of students attending both the University of Galway and the Atlantic Technological University, and that will also go a long way towards relieving the pressures on private rental accommodation in Galway City."
The development is also the latest investment in Ireland from Harrison Street’s European opportunistic strategy, which is supported by a €75m investment from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF).
The partnership with ISIF is a co-investment strategy focused primarily on delivering new student accommodation in Ireland’s regional cities.
“This is a good example of ISIF’s co-investment strategy at work, in which it can act as a catalyst to attract international co-investment capital to support the construction of new accommodation in one of Ireland’s leading cities," said Nick Ashmore, director of ISIF.
"ISIF’s partnership with Harrison Street, announced in 2023, aims to increase the supply of available student accommodation in regional cities to meet the housing needs of students and support the growth of Ireland’s universities.
"The delivery of this development is aligned with ISIF's ambitious €500m programme to support regeneration in Irelands five regional cities, whilst also making a positive contribution to our objective of delivering over 25,000 new homes by 2030. We look forward to seeing the development on Queen Street, Galway progress as part of that work.”
*This article was originally published on BusinessPlus.ie.
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