Elkstone, one of Ireland’s leading alternatives investment specialists, and Harrison Street, a global real assets investment management firm, have announced the development of a new 345-bed purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) at Queen Street in Galway City. The project is due for completion in 2026 and forms part of a wider partnership to deliver 1,500 purpose-built student beds across Limerick, Cork, Dublin, and Galway by 2028.
Queen Street PBSA marks the first significant investment in the west of Ireland through the Elkstone and Harrison Street partnership and will help to meet the growing demand for high-quality and specialised student accommodation in the region. Designed to meet the highest ESG standards, and with a focus on residents’ health and well-being, the 8-storey building will be home to 345 students. Additional amenities include common study areas, a gym, bicycle storage, a cinema room, rooftop terrace, and 24/7 reception.
“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, Harrison Street’s CEO of Europe. “We are proud to continue our partnership with Elkstone and collaborate on bringing this premium student housing asset to an undersupplied region.”
Located a 5-minute walk from Galway’s Ceannt train station, and a 15-minute walk from the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG), the Queen Street development also aims to significantly increase the economic contribution of the area.
The west of Ireland is now home to several prominent universities and institutes, making it a hub for higher education. The formation of a thriving university corridor has attracted a diverse student population and created a consistent need for modern, sustainable student accommodation. Almost 13,000 undergraduates alone require housing in a city with just under 6,000 student beds, meaning 7,000 are left without access to dedicated student accommodation.
“At Elkstone, we want 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,” said Ciaran McIntyre, Co-Founder and Head of Real Estate at Elkstone.
Elkstone aims to set a new standard for Ireland’s student living sector. Its dedicated real estate team operates across the entire real estate lifecycle, from planning to development and asset management, and empowers Irish investors to co-invest alongside globally leading companies such as Harrison Street. The firm opened its Galway office in 2019 led by Managing Director & Head of Private Clients Joe Bergin, and has previously delivered almost 100 student beds in the city. This new development represents a scaling of its operations in the west of Ireland, working together with Harrison Street to bring further supply to the Irish market.
Queen Street is the second PBSA project developed by Elkstone and Harrison Street. It follows the recently opened 142-bed Stoneybatter Place in Dublin – the first 3-star Fitwel ®Certified PBSA property in the Republic of Ireland. The main contractor at Stoneybatter Place, Monami Construction has been appointed as the main contractor on the Queen Street project, and Mezzino, an established manager in the UK and Ireland, will operate the property. Development finance for both Queen Street and Stoneybatter Place projects is being provided by Activate Capital.
“Activate is delighted to be furthering our support of Elkstone and Harrison Street, this time for the delivery at scale of much-needed new student accommodation in Galway,” said Robert Gallagher, CEO of Activate Capital.
Speaking on-site 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. 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,” said Nick Ashmore, Director, ISIF. “We are delighted to support the continued collaboration between Harrison Street, Activate and Elkstone as together they deliver on new regional student accommodation. The delivery of this development is aligned with ISIF’s ambitious €500m programme to support regeneration in Irelands 5 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.”
