Student Housing Business is the voice of the student housing industry.
Issue link: https://studenthousingbusiness.epubxp.com/i/616872
THE SHB INTERVIE W NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 STUDENT HOUSING BUSINESS .COM 90 university campuses, so that's a sig- nifcant change. What we're seeing with on-campus assets — whether it's with us or the university itself — is that increased enrollment goes along with those improved student housing assets. Most students will narrow their college choices down to two or three universities. Many times that fnal decision comes down to the feel of the university. New student housing and the infra- structure that usually follows is a signifcant infuence. Universities are seeing that growing and retain- ing enrollment requires up-to-date student housing. We think that trend is going to continue, and that's a major trend for both our business and for universities. On the off-campus side, many inves- tors and developers got burned before the fnancial crisis in build- ing assets that were not pedestrian to campus. Then we saw a rush to pedestrian-to-campus assets, which I think was appropriate. But what we're seeing now — and what has some people concerned, including me — is pedestrian-to-campus land is expensive and construction costs are high. So we're seeing a rush to off-campus properties that are close to campus with lots of ameni- ties at a very high price point, and I hope that that is not a trend that continues. As a parent, I don't think we ought to be providing many of these luxury amenities to students who have no way of affording them after college. SHB: Can we ask you about the relationship between EdR and ACC? Often the two largest frms in an industry are heated rivals and there is a lot of animosity between the companies. But that does not seem to be the case with EdR and ACC, everyone seems to get along, and dare we say, like each other? Churchey: Look, life is too short to not get along with people that you're going to see at least fve or six or more times a year. As you know, there are many student hous- ing and investor conferences so we see our counterparts at ACC at least that many times per year. In many cases, we have employees that were over there, over here and vice-ver- sa. There's nothing to be gained by having acrimony between the two entities. They've done a fan- tastic job, and I think we have too, of helping educate the university marketplace of the benefts for the P3 transactions and of educat- ing Wall Street on the attributes of investing in student housing. We've done that together. Our fortunes are somewhat tied together just from those two items, so to have acri- mony just makes no sense. It's a big waste of time. We like those guys, they like us as well. SHB: How do you want the indus- try to speak about EdR? Churchey: I hope it's with respect. Every real estate sector is an indus- try that is smaller than what it might seem from the outside, so there are people that you deal with day in and day out, year in and year out. In many cases, our mutual achievements are because of mutu- al goals and ambitions and work- ing together. I hope it is respect for what we do and how we do it. I hope they think we have integrity and I hope that they know that we do what we say we're going to do. SHB: What have you been doing outside the offce? Churchey: Most people know that I play a lot of golf. Unfortunately, everyone knows that, even our board of directors. I've got one child who is graduating college, one that is in, and one that is about to go to college, so we're navigating that same path as many people my age. We're going on college visits and we're being surprised by how much it costs, both to enroll in col- lege and to live in the nice com- munities that we have. Otherwise, things on the business side and the personal side are fantastic and I'm just grinding along. SHB Off-Campus Student Housing: 2015 Income and Expense Benchmarking Survey NMHC's Student Housing Council is the leading advocate for the privately owned student housing sector. It is dedicated to meeting the industry's information, networking and advocacy needs. Members meet several times a year. To participate in the Student Housing Council, firms must join NMHC. No supplemental dues are charged beyond the NMHC dues. Learn more about joining the leaders in student housing. Visit www.nmhc.org. Over 250 pages of information Access to most comprehensive survey to date including; 562 student housing properties, 322,000 beds in 40+ states Includes all Key Income & Expense Data Points you need to measure performance, budget and make accurate pro-forma assumptions Detailed information by property type and property age, national data, plus in-depth data from regions of the country and 19 individual states Year-over-year same-store performance for 381 properties, tracking changes in gross potential rent, concessions, vacancies, net rental income, total operating expenses and taxes ON LE OW! Just released, the only student housing report of its kind that enables student housing owners, operators and lenders to measure performance. AY! ORDER TOD www.nmhc.org/store 202/974-2300 202/775-0112 (fax) A Y ! O R D E R T O D