The Student Hotel reveals flagship project
The Student Hotel group, a co-living, co-working hospitality and student accommodation concept, has chosen Vienna for its new 822-guestroom flagship project.
The Student Hotel will open its first Austrian destination on the Nordbahnstrasse, in the 2nd district of Vienna. Construction of the 37,878m2 property is expected to start in early 2018, for an opening in Q2 2020.
The development will comprise a mix of contemporary hotel guestrooms, co-living studios and student rooms. The 4,000m2 ground floor has been designed to be open and inviting to the public and local community. It will include a wide variety of high quality services such as study and gaming areas, meeting rooms, and close to 1,500m2 of co-working facilities dedicated to start-ups and local business. The project will also feature space for restaurants, bars, gyms and sports facilities, while a unique indoor amphitheatre will serve both as a communal seating area or event space.
The Student Hotel Vienna is strategically located adjacent to the Nordbahnhof redevelopment district, where new complex Austria Campus is currently being completed for 9,000 workers, including the 105,000m2 Austrian headquarters of UniCredit Bank and the nearby campus of the Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien.
The acquisition is in line with The Student Hotel group’s strategy to develop high quality mixed-used accommodation in major European cities to meet the demand and new way of living and working of students, young professionals, international travellers and entrepreneurs.
The group has been investigating various locations in the city for several years, waiting to find the right project to make its Austrian debut with a major new flagship. The development is the first step in growing The Student Hotel’s Austrian network, where it is looking for redevelopment and regeneration projects in cities such as Salzburg, Innsbruck and Graz.
Felix Hillen, The Student Hotel’s managing director, comments: “We are very proud to announce that we have teamed up with S+B Gruppe and Investa Real Estate to develop one of the largest and most innovative Student Hotels of the group. We are excited about the location and the ambition of the city of Vienna for the re-development of the Praterstern area in which The Student Hotel has been invited to play a vital role. Our ambition is to create a vibrant heart which will address the needs of both the locals and our international community ensuring Vienna is a key destination in our European network.”
Wolfdieter Jarisch, S+B Gruppe board member and shareholder, adds: “The partnership with The Student Hotel reflects the capacity of S+B Gruppe to partner with international and well-established companies to develop high quality and innovative projects which will contribute to the long term development of Vienna. We have been impressed by The Student Hotel’s approach to hospitality which is both new and disruptive, while ensuring it adjusts and personalises each project to local market needs.”
The group plans to have 41 properties totalling 17,550 rooms in the major European cities by 2021, beginning with the opening of The Student Hotel Florence and Maastricht in 2017; Bologna and Madrid in 2018; Berlin, Rome and Delft in 2019; and Vienna in 2020.
