Student Housing Business is the voice of the student housing industry.
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TOWN & GOWN JULY/AUGUST 2015 STUDENT HOUSING BUSINESS .COM 52 competing with In college markets large and small, off-campus student housing projects often fnd themselves co-existing — and competing — with conventional multifamily assets. By Randall Shearin I In nearly every college market, there's a need for conventional multifamily housing along with student housing. In some markets today, student housing outpaces conventional multifamily offer- ings with amenities and location, while in oth- ers, conventional multifamily housing serves as student housing. SHB spoke with a number of student housing executives on the differentia- tion between conventional multifamily and student housing in college markets. Most competition comes in a narrow band of the market, with older student housing assets — or assets that were once considered student housing — and conventional multi- family assets sitting in a ring close to campus. "We are typically not running into competi- tion on newer purpose-built student housing from conventional multifamily assets," says Kevin Larimer, partner and national director of student housing with Berkadia. "The big- ger issue is with the older student housing product that is not necessarily purpose-built as student housing, but has been operated as a hybrid between student housing and conven- tional renters." Prior to the boom in purpose-built student housing, on many larger campuses there was a mix of people who lived close to campus. Those included everyone from grad students to university employees to people working near campus to students. "You always heard of the stu- dent ghettos before p u r p o s e - b u i l t student housing came along," says Larimer. "You didn't typically have families and well-to-do individ- uals who wanted to live near cam- puses because stu- dents created a lot of havoc. You also had areas that were a unique mix, which had students seeking afordable housing mixed with some workforce housing. In the last 12 years, a lot of that has disappeared because of the boom in purpose-built student housing." "In markets where there isn't enough dedi- cated student housing, students will seek out conventional multifamily," says Judd Bobilin, CEO of Atlanta-based student housing devel- oper Chance Partners. "That creates prob- lems in some markets because the residents may not be compatible. Class A student assets also generally ofer better safety and, impor- tant for students, much faster Internet than conventional apartments. Student assets also have better proximity and access to campus. In many cases, nowadays, there are superior amenities at student projects. In most markets, you'll fnd a subset of conventional that's competitive with student." Bobilin points to university markets like that around Florida International University in Miami, where 72 percent of frst- year students live of-campus, accord- ing to U.S. News & World Report . There, EdR acquired 109 Tower when it was under con- struction in 2013. The 15-story, 542- bed student hous- ing complex leased up in time for its opening in fall 2014 because of strong J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 n s h d p s c L d h w u t o p d o KEVIN LARIMER Partner and National Director of Student Housing Berkadia Chance Partners' Avenues project in Tallahassee. The company has built several smaller boutique student properties that target grad students and others who may have already lived in conventional multifamily before returning to grad school. Several of the company's student projects have attracted conventional multifamily renters. JUDD BOBILIN CEO Chance Partners CONVENTIONAL MULTIFAMILY?