Nuveen Teams With Weave on 62-Unit Serviced Apartment Project in Central Seoul

Nuveen has partnered with rental housing operator Weave Living to acquire a building in central Seoul for redevelopment into a 62-unit serviced apartment project, marking the US investment manager’s debut living-sector acquisition in the South Korean capital.

The asset in the Gwanghui neighbourhood of Seoul’s Jung district was acquired for KRW 22.5 billion ($15.5 million) through Nuveen’s Asia Pacific Cities strategy, with the property set to be converted into a Weave Suites-branded serviced apartment block scheduled to open in January 2027, according to a Wednesday announcement.

Nuveen Asia Pacific real estate head Louise Kavanagh said the investment was backed by long-term conviction in Asia’s living sector, with the Korean rental market benefiting from structural shifts away from the country’s traditional jeonse lease system, which sees tenants pay large deposits instead of making monthly rental payments.

“This evolution is creating new opportunities for institutional-quality, purpose-built living product — precisely the kind of asset that Weave Living specialises in delivering,” Kavanagh said.

Korean Platform Grows

The transaction adds to Weave’s expansion in Seoul after the Hong Kong-based operator entered the market in March 2024 in a partnership with KKR, with the new project becoming the company’s fifth in the city.

Weave founder and CEO Sachin Doshi said the partnership with Nuveen reflected growing institutional confidence in South Korea’s rental housing sector, as operators seek to capture demand for professionally managed accommodation among domestic tenants and foreign professionals relocating to Seoul.

Located a one-minute walk from Dongdaemun History & Culture Park station, the project sits within Seoul’s traditional central business district and provides access to business hubs across the city via metro lines 2, 4 and 5. The surrounding area houses Korean conglomerates SK, Hanwha, Doosan, CJ and Shinsegae, alongside financial institutions including Shinhan, Hana, Mirae Asset and IBK.

The development lies near Dongguk University and Hanyang University, which together host more than 6,000 international students, with the project targeting demand from overseas students, academics and corporate tenants seeking flexible accommodation in the city centre.

Monthly rental transactions in South Korea rose 15 percent year-on-year in 2025 as tenants increasingly opted for conventional rental arrangements, creating opportunities for institutional investors seeking exposure to stabilised housing income streams, according to Nuveen and South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The Seoul acquisition follows Weave’s October launch of a KRW 635 billion Korean rental housing venture alongside a global institutional investor understood to be Singapore’s GIC, with the core-plus strategy targeting professionally managed residential projects across the country.

Riding Rental Demand

Weave has been accelerating its regional expansion as investor appetite for rental housing grows amid tightening supply in major gateway cities and rising demand from mobile professionals and students.

Last month the operator teamed with North American investment manager BGO to acquire a portfolio of 11 residential properties in Tokyo. The deal covered 439 apartment units across central residential districts including Shinjuku, Meguro and Sumida, with Weave taking responsibility for asset management and operations.

Founded in 2017, Weave now owns and manages 54 residential properties in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Australia.

For Nuveen, the Seoul acquisition comes amid broader expansion initiatives by parent TIAA, which agreed in April to acquire British asset manager Schroders in a £10.4 billion ($13.5 billion) transaction set to create an investment platform overseeing roughly $2.5 trillion in assets.

Nuveen in March made its first Australian industrial investment, acquiring a newly built industrial facility in Sydney’s Prestons suburb with assistance from local manager Aliro Group. The 22,492 square metre (242,102 square foot) asset is fully leased to two tenants.