TALLAHASSEE, FLA. — A joint venture between Calidus, Pebb Capital and Pragma Investments has acquired 3,155 beds near Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee for $43.5 million. The university is located at 600 W. College Ave. The beds are situated throughout four complexes surrounding FSU.
The City of Tallahassee contains more than 70,000 students. There are about 10,000 on-campus student beds, and about 30,000 off-campus beds set aside for students.
The joint venture, known as Collegium Capital Partners, plans to carry out a multi-million-dollar renovation at the properties.
“This acquisition will bring the Collegium student housing portfolio to approximately 6,000 beds with three additional closings scheduled for the second half of this year,” says Todd Rosenberg, Pebb’s CEO. “Our plan is to help Collegium achieve its goals with a sophisticated, dedicated capital source to grow its holdings into one of the largest privately held student housing portfolios in the country.”
Peak Campus Management will manage the beds. CCRE, an affiliate of Cantor Fitzgerald, provided the acquisition financing.
“This acquisition not only makes us one of the largest student housing providers in the Tallahassee market, it also is indicative of our willingness to tackle extremely complicated value-add projects,” says Benjamin Macfarland, chief investment officer of Calidus and president of Collegium. “This is a great example of our focus to seek out new acquisitions with solid cash flow at an exceptionally low basis to give our investors the ability to make a great return.”
All three companies are based in West Palm Beach County. Calidus provides underwriting and asset management; Pebb supplies capital, debt and equity resources; and Pragma oversees capital improvements and rebranding efforts.
— Nellie Day