Student Housing Business is the voice of the student housing industry.
Issue link: https://studenthousingbusiness.epubxp.com/i/564824
SPECIALIZED HOUSING JULY/AUGUST 2015 STUDENT HOUSING BUSINESS .COM 48 a sleeping roommate, as well as meeting space for group projects that ofer students items like elec- tronic whiteboards and depend- able Wi-Fi. "Students want to live with stu- dents who have similar degree pursuits, came from a strong academic background, and are extremely serious about maintain- ing that level of performance in college," says Greg Blais, presi- dent of RISE. Blais says that updated hon- ors housing is not much diferent than traditional housing, but that amenity space is more focused on academics and group meetings, rather than gaming or television, for instance. Even in buildings that are for freshmen and sophomores not in an honors program, RISE has experimented with developing pod space for honors students: a large living room with a kitchen- ette to serve as an academic space, while hallways with single or double bedrooms attached extend from the living room. American Campus Comm uni- ties is currently developing two honors projects. "The most defning aspect of honors housing is going in and redefning traditional living hall space, giving it a contemporary confguration that is also suitable for millennial expectations," says Jason Willis, senior vice president of on-campus development. "This includes privacy walls, subdi- vided bathrooms, private vanities and medicine cabinets." "What we're also seeing is trends in subdivision of community. Some are pretty creative: instead of the traditional double-loaded corridor, we're seeing universities that want to break it down into diferent groupings around living areas, such as six to eight students in double occupancy accommoda- tions, sharing two bathrooms and a living area and kitchenette that becomes defned as pods. Or 12 to 20 students in double occupancy accommodations and a bathroom and kitchen area that might be called a cluster. Diferent group- ings that allow a diferent level of unit development." Willis also believes that devel- opers must be more proactive in the planning of academic interac- tions. "These halls are a diferent approach to looking at study as a pervasive placemaking oppor- tunity. It's not like we say, Here's the room for studying. We look over the whole property and say, This nook could be a nice place for someone to get away to study, and, These lounges can be active here and quiet here," he says. According to Willis, "Having so many places to study is really in response to student demand. Students say, We love tradition- al amenities but we also need comfortable places to study for all-nighters. These honors halls require you to think these things through and plan. It's very grat- ifying when you see a student doing something with a space for which it was planned," says Willis. • acquisitions INVESTMENT development • Aggressively pursuing student housing developments and acquisitions in primary, secondary, and tertiary markets, up to 5 miles from campus. CONTACT: Acquisitions: Development: Michael Augustine (435) 214-7431 MAugustine@HomesteadDP.com • Homestead-U.com • HomesteadDevelopmentPartners.com Our Mission: To develop high-caliber student housing communities nationwide and acquire assets through a value-add strategy. Target communities will be focused in tier two and tier three markets with a smaller emphasis on tier one. . Mississippi State Ohio University The Ohio State University Ohio University Texas A&M; Texas Tech University of Arizona Real Estate Investment CPP Columbus Pacific Properties UNDER DEVELOPMENT OWNED PROPERTIES Developed by: HOMESTE D development partners Managed by: Homestead Development Partners joins Homestead-U and Columbus Pacific Properties