Student Housing Business is the voice of the student housing industry.
Issue link: https://studenthousingbusiness.epubxp.com/i/488341
MARKET LEADER STUDENT HOUSING BUSINESS .COM MARCH/APRIL 2015 75 and the second phase will be completed by early summer. I had all sorts of opportunities from really strong student housing companies to sell or joint venture. Because of the way our business is set up, we elected to keep the prop- erty and develop it. It was designed by Entasis and built by CW Construction. It is the gem in our portfolio and core of our management company. SHB: What are some of the intricacies about the Virginia Tech market? Stosser: Blacksburg is a very high barrier to entry town, in part because of the cost of land, lack of site availability and strong municipality control. Student housing is the primary market here and land is a precious commodity. SHB: How do you operate your student housing differ- ently than a national player would? Stosser: We have a local edge only from the standpoint that we have built diverse projects and have been in the marketplace a long time. In the early 2000s, we did a full blown market study in Blacksburg and surrounding area to determine needs and help establish our busi- ness plan for the future. That study identifed large parcels with existing utilities that could be developed into housing. We have spent a long time buying some of that land or optioning for future purchases. The land has basically been under our control for many years. By Stosser razed an older, income producing property to build The Edge, a 913-bed property adjacent to Virginia Tech.