NEW YORK CITY — Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI) and Global Student Accommodation (GSA) have acquired a portfolio of eight student housing assets in Tier 1 U.S. university markets from a joint venture between a wholly owned subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Landmark Properties. The transaction is valued at more than $1 billion.
The properties are located across seven states and offer a mix of cottage-style, high-rise and mid-rise formats. The 6,200-bed portfolio is nearly fully leased. Global student housing operator Yugo will manage and rebrand the newly acquired assets.
The assets in the sold portfolio include:
- The Retreat at Corvallis (serving Oregon State University)
- The Standard at State College and The Metropolitan State College (serving Pennsylvania State University)
- The Standard at Charlottesville (serving the University of Virginia)
- The Retreat at Gainesville (serving the University of Florida)
- The Standard at College Station (serving Texas A&M University)
- The Retreat at Kennesaw (serving Kennesaw State University)
- The Standard at Raleigh (serving North Carolina State University)
The acquisition marks the partnership’s entrance into new markets in Virginia, Georgia and Pennsylvania, while expanding its presence in Texas, Florida, Oregon and North Carolina. Through its partnership, MSREI and GSA now own nearly 24,000 student housing beds across 50 properties in 23 states.
“This acquisition is testament to the depth of our global teams, our access to unique opportunities and the strength of our institutional relationships in the United States and globally. An off-market portfolio of this size and quality is rare, and demonstrates our experience and expertise in the student housing market,” says Nicholas Porter, CEO at The Dot Group.
GSA is part of The Dot Group, a student housing investment and development firm. With flagship offices in New York City and London, GSA maintains $8 billion in assets under management across 11 countries.
MSREI is the global private real estate investment management business of Morgan Stanley. With 17 offices throughout the United States, Europe and Asia, MSREI currently manages $54 billion of gross real estate assets worldwide on behalf of its clients.
Athens, Ga.-based Landmark and ADIA formed their first joint venture in 2015 to develop student housing properties adjacent to leading U.S. universities. The duo created an additional value-add acquisition platform in 2022.
“This sale underscores the value we’ve created through our partnership with ADIA and the high quality of the assets across the portfolio. The transaction also provides significant liquidity for our platform to recycle into new student housing investment,” says Wes Rogers, chairman and CEO of Landmark. “We’re proud of the positive performance these communities have delivered and look forward to reinvesting across our current portfolio and in our robust pipeline of projects as the student sector continues on a growth trajectory.”
— Kristin Harlow