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COMPANY PROFILE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 STUDENT HOUSING BUSINESS .COM 84 Adding Value One Project at a Time Orion Student Housing has developed a knack for creating success from projects that need a little attention to detail. By Randall Shearin O Orion Student Housing is a savvy student housing investor, picking markets and assets based on the opportunity that the properties and markets provide as a strategy. Managing Member William Fideli of William Fideli Investments operates the entity from his Boston offce, while joint venture partner Wills Companies co- manages from its offce outside Washington, D.C. Orion has a long-term, asset investment view of the sector, with an intent to hold properties for the long-term. Fideli has an investment banking background, and later became involved in the sale-leaseback sector running a department for Taurus Corporate Properties. One of the sale-leasebacks he worked on was a student housing property under development. That deal fell through, but Fideli recognized the reasons for its failure, and in those he saw how success could be had in purpose-built student housing. "That property introduced me to the asset class, and I just fell in love with it," he says. "In real estate, you can do anything you want, from cold storage to hotels, but you need to do what is fun and enjoyable to you. To me, the excitement that student traded at a discount when it has the same underly- ing risks as traditional multifamily was intriguing. The more research I did, the more I realized I wanted to put money to work in this space." In 2012, Fideli partnered with brothers Trey and Tim Wills to form Orion Student Housing as a joint venture. The frst deal that the company did was a 17-property scattered site portfolio near the University of New Hampshire in Durham that was pedestrian to campus. The company has acquired 2,400 beds in the past three years, with another 400 beds under development in the entitlement stages. The company's portfolio stretches from Maine to Texas. "At our core, we are opportunistic," says Fideli. "We will look at any proj- ect, whether it is an acquisition or development, regardless of asset class. There just has to be a value-add story to it. The property can be physically tired, have a development angle, is operationally broken or in fnancial dis- tress. There has to be a clear path to value creation for us." Orion purchased Eagle Creek, a 172-bed community near the University of North Texas in Denton, because it liked the property's fundamentals. Because it had developed a presence in the market, it began looking at other communities there. In November, the company closed on The Place, a community in Waco, Texas, serving Baylor University. In Orono, Maine, the company acquired Orchard Trails, a 576-bed project near the University of Maine two years ago. There, the company is in the process of developing a sister community adjacent to Orchard Trails, which it plans to open by fall 2017. Orion Student Housing has had success in turning around its acquired properties. At University Edge, in Durham, New Hampshire, Orion took a woefully underperforming Class B 688-bed community and repositioned it into an 832-bed community through a nearly 200-bed expansion that deliv- ered this fall. The new build leased in 36 hours at its underwritten rent rate. "With real estate, you need to stay in your lane; if you are a Class B prop- erty, don't try to be a Class A property," he says. "You should be the best class B property that you can be by offering value to your residents. If that value proposition is high enough, residents will seek you out." In Conway, South Carolina, Orion recently acquired The Cove, a 400-bed, Class A project near Coastal Carolina University. While the property is rela- The Cove is a Class A project that Orion Student Housing acquired near Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina. Orion acquired the 576-bed Orchard Trails in Orono, Maine, two years ago. The company is now developing a sister property across the street to further serve students at the University of Maine.