Student Housing

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A public-private partnership between the University of South Carolina and Greystar has opened Campus Village, a $240 million residence hall development. Construction on the project, which includes four buildings offering 1,800 beds, began in May 2019. Each six-story building is connected by pedestrian promenades that run alongside green space, courtyards and a clock tower. Beds are offered in pod-style units alongside shared amenities including study and classroom spaces and community kitchens. Campus Village also features a 14,000-square-foot dining hall that seats 650 students; a sundry shop dubbed The Gamecock General Store; retail space leased to Jimmy John’s and Starbucks Coffee; and shuttle service to and from central campus. The development is home to several living-learning communities, including those for information, design and computing; engineering and computing; and entrepreneurship and innovation. The development team for Campus Village included Contract Construction, Juneau Construction and WDG.

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Roxann Campbell Pavlov Media Multifamily Wi-Fi

Day-to day life as a property manager in both a conventional multifamily building and student housing can be unpredictable. Hiring and staffing issues can plague many operators, resulting in the need to wear many different hats. These different hats can make it difficult for staff to fully address all of the residents’ needs. Managing a Wi-Fi system — perhaps the most crucial technology platform at any community — is one duty that the onsite team can happily offload to a third-party provider. Reliable Managed Wi-Fi Systems Roxann Campbell, vice president of regional sales at Pavlov Media, says today’s Internet-connected culture has increased the need for residents to have an absolutely reliable managed Wi-Fi system. Pavlov Media (which provides Wi-Fi & fiber services to multifamily and student properties) is an Internet service provider (ISP) that can establish connectivity throughout entire buildings while managing Internet for all of a property’s residents. This managed Wi-Fi approach benefits the buildings’ owner-operators because it offers a planned strategy for wiring and Wi-Fi signals. Routers aren’t competing against each other, as they can in communities that give their residents the option to sign up with any number of competing Internet providers. “Bulk managed Wi-Fi provides residents …

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KNOXVILLE, TENN. — Core Spaces, Schenk Realty and Kayne Anderson Real Estate have received $233.3 million in financing for the construction of Hub Knoxville, a 2,000-bed student housing community in downtown Knoxville adjacent to the University of Tennessee campus. According to the development team, this project would be the largest student housing development in Knoxville’s history. Hub Knoxville comprises 600 units across three towers, including two 10-story buildings and one seven-story building. Units come in studio through five-bedroom layouts. The project will also include an estimated 30,000 square feet of retail space and an 1,800-stall parking garage. Overall, Hub Knoxville spans over 4 acres in “The Strip,” Knoxville’s main hub downtown. Through a partnership with Covenant Health, the parking garage will also provide parking spaces dedicated to the Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center and East Tennessee Children’s Hospital. Construction on Hub Knoxville began this spring. The first phase of the project is slated for completion in fall 2025. The second phase is scheduled to open in 2026. Amenities will include a rooftop pool deck, a courtyard with grilling stations, a spa and fitness center, private study rooms and a coffee shop. Core Spaces and Schenk Realty are co-developers on the …

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Orchard-Park

DAVIS, CALIF. — Michaels Student Living has completed Orchard Park, a 1,549-bed residence hall developed through a public-private partnership with the University of California, Davis and the Collegiate Housing Foundation. The development spans 11 buildings, offering 613 units for graduate students and students with families. The community also includes indoor amenity spaces, two community centers and programmed outdoor space. This property is the second phase of development for the public-private partnership, following The Green at West Village, a nine-building community offering 3,290 beds. 

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COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS — Arizona-based lender Arriba Capital has provided a $28.5 million construction loan for a new student housing project that will serve students at Texas A&M University in College Station. The complex will feature 339 beds across 199 units, each of which will have a full kitchen, study desks and washer and dryer. Communal amenities will include a pool, fitness center, study lounges and a game room. BKV Group is the project architect, and McGough is the general contractor. The borrower was not disclosed.

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TALLAHASSEE, FLA. — Balfour Beatty has acquired The Quarters at Tallahassee, a 592-bed student housing community located one mile from the Florida State University campus in Tallahassee. The property, which offers 168 units in a mix of six floor plans, has been rebranded Oktiv by the new ownership. Shared amenities at the community include a business center, clubhouse, fitness center, resort-style swimming pool, hot tub, sauna, study rooms and a yoga studio with on-demand classes. Berkadia secured acquisition financing for the transaction through an affiliate of Walton Street Capital. The seller and terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The community will be managed by Balfour Beatty’s internal residential management division, Balfour Beatty Communities.

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The-Campbell

Where is third-party management headed? This is a loaded question in 2023. The economic environment alone presents its fair share of challenges. An indirect result of fewer properties transacting in the student housing sector is that properties are changing management firms less often. This doesn’t mean that third-party managers are resting on their laurels, however. They are continuing to enhance operations to create a better experience for guests while becoming more efficient for their property owner clients. Instead, operators are using this time to hone their craft, and there is much to ponder. Which COVID-19 protocols should remain from an on-site perspective? Should they look at centralizing some processes? And how can the implementation of AI help streamline processes without taking away the personal element? All of these questions — and more — are currently being assessed by third-party managers heading into the all-important turn season this summer. But unlike the temperatures outside, operators are keeping their cool with a focus on what they do best — customer service.  Meeting Current Challenges The sector — and commercial real estate at large — is facing a number of hurdles, many of which are being exacerbated by the looming turn cycle. “It seems each …

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LOS ANGELES — JLL has arranged an undisclosed amount of financing for USC Expo, a 260-bed student housing development located near the University of Southern California campus in Los Angeles.  Greg Brown and Zane Sweet of JLL worked on behalf of the borrower, Mosaic Investment Partners, to secure both joint-venture equity and mezzanine financing from HC2 Capital, as well as a senior construction facility from Calmwater Capital.  The seven-story community is scheduled for completion in spring 2025 and will offer fully furnished studio, one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom units. Shared amenities will include a rooftop swimming pool, second-floor amenity deck, fitness center, computer room and dog park.

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WILLIAMSBURG, VA. — Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions, a developer and operator of college and university real estate and infrastructure projects, has released plans for on-campus student housing options at William & Mary, a public research university in Williamsburg. The developer formed a public-private partnership with the school to bring the $240 million project to fruition. The new student housing accommodations will exceed 1,200 new beds. The general contractors, which includes Balfour Beatty’s buildings division and Richmond-based Kjellstrom+Lee, plan to break ground this month and open for student occupation in 2025. The first phase will deliver 935 beds at West Woods on the west side of William & Mary that will feature modern living units and community spaces, as well as a 50,000-square-foot dining hall. The second phase will feature 269 beds in a new facility adjacent to the school’s Lemon and Hardy Halls along Jamestown Road. The residence halls will be heated using geothermal heating and air conditioning in support of the school’s Climate Action Roadmap, which aims for a carbon-neutral campus by 2030. Lemon and Hardy Halls will also be transitioned to geothermal heating and cooling as part of the project. The design-build team includes VDMO Architects and CMTA. …

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ATLANTA — LV Collective has delivered Whistler, a 565-bed student housing community located in the Midtown neighborhood of Atlanta near the Georgia Tech campus. The 277,457-square-foot property is located at 859 Spring St. NW, on the edge of Midtown’s Tech Square district. The community offers 168 units in studio to five-bedroom configurations with bed-to-bath parity. Shared amenities include a second-floor study mezzanine with private study spaces, conference rooms and a podcast room; Daydreamer Coffee café; dog spa; fitness center with cardio and weightlifting equipment, yoga and spin studios and a sauna; and a 24th-floor deck with an infinity pool and hot tub. Whistler was developed through a partnership between LV Collective and ELV Associates Inc. Variant Collaborative provided interior design services for the project, and Niles Bolton Associates served as architect. JE Dunn was the general contractor, and Asset Living will manage the community. Move-in for residents is scheduled to begin on Aug. 11, in time for Georgia Tech’s 2023 fall semester.

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