Strategic 354-unit acquisition marks acceleration of Grace’s national expansion and reinforces its cluster-based growth model.
Grace Real Estate Partners (“Grace”), a UK-based investment and asset management firm, has completed the acquisition of a 354-unit residential portfolio in central Newcastle from a private seller. The transaction expands Grace’s North East cluster to over 800 units, reinforcing the region as a cornerstone of the firm’s UK-wide, cluster-based platform strategy.
The newly acquired portfolio comprises 354 self-contained studio units across three freehold buildings, located in Newcastle’s city centre. Benefiting from close proximity to lifestyle amenities, transport links, universities, and employment hubs, the assets are well-positioned to deliver strong occupancy, sustainable income growth, and long-term capital appreciation.
The acquisition forms part of Grace’s broader ambition to build a resilient, high-quality residential platform across the UK’s most dynamic urban centres.
“This strategic acquisition consolidates our presence in Newcastle and underscores our commitment to building a high-quality, scalable living platform with long-term institutional appeal,” said Jacob Cronstedt, Founding Partner at Grace Real Estate Partners. He continued: “Grace executes a thematic, value-add strategy – unlocking value through hands-on asset management, repositioning, and sustainability-led enhancements. We transform underutilised assets into institutional-grade properties – addressing critical housing needs in the UK’s underserved mid-market rental segment.”
Operating under a hybrid leasing model, the assets serve both students and young professionals, and present strong value-creation potential through active leasing strategies, professionalised management, and operational optimisation.
Newcastle and the wider North East continue to demonstrate strong fundamentals, underpinned by population growth, rising rental demand, sustained public and private investment, and an increasingly dynamic urban workforce. The region forms a key pillar of Grace’s platform strategy, which targets affordable, high-demand micro-locations across Greater London, commuter towns, and selected regional hubs.
“Our investment philosophy is focused and conviction-led – targeting assets with strong fundamentals, repositioning upside, and long-term performance drivers,” added Georges Tohme, Founding Partner at Grace Real Estate Partners. “This acquisition not only adds scale and operational synergies to our portfolio but exemplifies how we deploy a cluster strategy to enhance income resilience and create long-term value for our stakeholders.”
This transaction marks a key milestone in Grace’s national expansion and demonstrates the firm’s ability to scale efficiently through targeted, high-conviction acquisitions.
Grace completed its first Newcastle acquisition in 2023 – a 478-unit portfolio across 25 buildings in the city and surrounding counties. The firm also completed its first London acquisition last year – a Zone 1 portfolio comprising 110 residential units alongside ancillary commercial space.
Grace is actively seeking additional residential assets in its target geographies to support its next phase of growth. Head to Gracere.co.uk to find out more.
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Note to Editors
Jacob Cronstedt, Founding Partner at Grace Real Estate Partners, is available for comment – preferably over email – or interviews.
For further press information, please contact:
Dylan Smart / Yasmine Triana
Rooster PR
T: +44 (0)20 3440 8930
E: grace@rooster.co.uk
About Grace Real Estate Partners
Grace Real Estate Partners is an independent UK-based investment manager with a fully integrated operating platform. The firm specialises in acquiring, repositioning, and institutionalising underutilised residential assets across the UK.
Grace employs a thematic, value-add investment strategy focused on delivering alpha through active management, strategic asset transformation, and ESG-driven enhancements. The firm commits significant capital alongside its investors, ensuring strong alignment and a long-term partnership-driven approach.For more information, please visit www.gracere.co.uk.
Grace Real Estate Partners (“Grace”), a real estate investment company, announced today its acquisition of a residential portfolio based in Zone 1, London. The purchase comprises 110 units of underutilised residential space alongside commercial and ancillary facilities.
This is the second acquisition for the private real estate investment group, who in August 2023, completed its first transaction - a portfolio of 478 residential units across 25 buildings in Newcastle and its surrounding counties - comprising 270,000 sq ft of lettable space.
Grace focuses on the UK residential Private Rented Sector (PRS) and specialises in value-add strategies, transforming underused assets into dynamic, strong performers with sustainable impact. Grace targets residential opportunities with potential for capital appreciation through an ESG-led modernisation program and prop-tech management solution system.
With an initial portfolio target of £750 million, the company’s aspiration is set on accruing a strong portfolio of collective and individual property assets across the UK.
Georges Tohme, Founding Director at Grace comments: “These two acquisitions are exciting opportunities given the multiple routes for optimisation the portfolios offer. The purchases are consistent with Grace’s strategy of unlocking value through active management of well-located residential properties in growth areas. Moving forward, we will continue to target quality assets in line with our dynamic, ESG-led asset management strategy”.
The investment represents a further step in Grace’s long-term strategic growth plan and demonstrates the group’s unique ability to add significant scale to its portfolio.
Jacob Cronstedt, Founding Director at Grace comments: "We see a compelling opportunity to scale our strategy and leverage our significant experience in the PRS sector in which we have invested and operated for more than 20 years and have consistently delivered high-risk adjusted returns with a top-tier track record. The first two acquisitions align perfectly with our strategy of utilising our strong asset management expertise to add value and create an institutional product with enhanced sustainability credentials”.
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For further press information, please contact:
Samantha Dymond / Dylan Smart
Rooster PR
T: +44 (0)20 3440 8934
E: grace@rooster.co.uk
About Grace Real Estate Partners
Grace Real Estate Partners is a private real estate investment and asset management group specialising in value-add strategies. Grace is a fully integrated platform; owning, managing and optimising residential properties across the UK.
The core management team has acquired and asset managed more than €11bn of assets, with a value-add track-record obtained through a series of platform-specific partnerships, regional funds and separate accounts for over 400 properties.
Grace was formed by Ailon Group, the northern European investment manager, and Tamar Real Estate, the Family Office real estate arm with a presence in Europe, the US and the Middle East.
For further information about Grace please see our website:
www.gracere.co.uk