Student Housing Business is the voice of the student housing industry.
Issue link: https://studenthousingbusiness.epubxp.com/i/488341
SHB INTERVIE W STUDENT HOUSING BUSINESS .COM MARCH/APRIL 2015 69 once and quickly. Ultimately, we decided to go for six of the nine properties, which made us an eas- ier choice for Campus Crest given that bundle. I don't think any other group had the appetite or strategy of taking down that many proper- ties at once. In terms of how many we will ultimately develop, we're development oriented; we felt that we could really digest a number of the development sites and start in short order and we're looking to do just that. Right now, we're about ready to put shovels in the ground on four of the six sites. The timing just worked out great for us and for Core; we felt it was the right oppor- tunity and the right time for us. SHB: There were three Campus Crest sites that you didn't buy. Smith: Yes, I think they were Western Michigan; San Angelo, Texas; and Toledo, Ohio. Those we felt like were furthest off our mark in terms of an ideal ft. For the other six, we had an opportunity to really purchase land with entitlements and permits in place at a price that allow us to do very well on the investment side after these proper- ties are built. Entitlements take time and we really valued that heavily. SHB: The amount of work you guys have is almost astounding. It almost seems like you would have to work 26 hours a day. How do you handle the workfow? Smith: Tom Scott is a real estate wizard and the visionary which guides the ship and we've built a top-notch team of executives, many of whom have been together for years, to help lead our great team and make the engine run smoothly. Tom, John Diedrich and I have worked together on every new development together for the past seven years as well have very compatible skill sets. I think that that has allowed us to grow the organization the way we have and have the success that we've had. We've built a great team and hand- selected the people surrounding us that we felt like were great fts, had great experience and love what they do day in and day out. We've also got an incredibly strong devel- opment team, probably one of the strongest in the industry. SHB: In your offce, you have a monitor that shows all the develop- ments at once. Smith: Yes, we can monitor con- struction progress remotely, which given the volume of projects we're doing and the simple fact we can't be everywhere at once, it's nice to have. It allows us to monitor weather, gives us an idea about whether site productivity is going to be up or down if it's raining or if site activity is taking place on River Park On South Green NP NORTHPOINTE APARTMENTS Ohio University 1,236 Beds The Ohio State University 1,859 Beds Texas Tech University 737 Beds The University of Arizona 912 Beds The University of Arizona 1,020 Beds Texas A&M; University 1,354 Beds Columbus Pacific Properties Real Estate Investment CPP Aggressively pursuing student housing projects between $10 million and $100 million in primary, secondary and tertiary markets, up to 5 miles from campus. Acquired 9/15/2014