The Danske Bank-owned pension fund Danica Pension has announced that it intends to invest in the construction of a student housing complex in Nørrebro.

The complex will consist of eight buildings – seven blocks up to 12 storeys high and a 29-story skyscraper – which in total will provide 700 student apartments at a cost of just under a billion kroner.

“This investment of just below a billion kroner will yield a stable return for our pension customers for many years in the future,” Christian E Olsson, the head of investment and project development at Danica, told Politiken newspaper.

The buildings will be located at an old DSB freight area on Borgmestervangen, near Nørrebro Station, and are expected to be completed in time for the new academic year in 2017. The student housing will include rooms with shared kitchens and independent apartments with up to four rooms.

READ MORE: Capital mayor wants student-housing for 3,500 kroner

A massive demand
Danica expects that some 20,000 new students will move to Copenhagen over the next five years, compounding the current student housing issues in the capital. Furthermore, the central location will make it an attractive place for students to live.

The project also includes a common roof area and the students will have a cafe and a supermarket on the ground floor. From 2019, a Metro station will also be ready in the area.

“Because our student housing will be located in the centre of Nørrebro with a unique view of Copenhagen, they will be in great demand,” Olsen said in a press release. “It’s right around there that almost all young people dream of living.”

The project is currently in its planning phase and the buildings – designed by Arkitema Architects – must be approved, both the hearing and local planning process, by the City Council.

Danica revealed that the student buildings will be the first of a number of building investment projects in the capital region in the coming years.