Student Housing Business is the voice of the student housing industry.
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THE SHB INTERVIE W January/February 2017 StudentHousingBusiness.com 28 Rising to a New Level Coming off a strong 2016, RISE has a lot on tap in the new year. The company recently broke ground on new projects at LSU, has launched a value-add division and has several off-campus projects under development. Led by President Greg Blais, whose passion is contagious, the company is focused on caring and serving, two words you don't always hear associated with student housing. Interview by Randall Shearin S SHB recently caught up with Greg Blais, the president of RISE: A Real Estate Company, as the new year began. The company has an exciting 2017 planned, with a major new on- campus development deal signed at Louisiana State University that will lead the company to build three residence halls at the school. RISE also has off-campus projects under develop- ment that will open this fall at several univer- sities. In addition, the company is launching a value-add business. SHB: You rebranded to RISE in 2015, how has that gone for you? Blais: We rebranded to RISE: A Real Estate Company in June 2015. As you would expect, there was trepidation for us in that process. How would our clients and the market accept the rebrand? We are extremely proud to share that the rebrand from Ambling University Development Group to RISE has gone very well. To illustrate that point, we had an inter- nal timeline of two years in which we would continue to market the name change; how- ever, after just one year we have discontinued that effort, realizing the market has accepted RISE. Our marketing department did a tre- mendous job penetrating our industry with the rebrand. Since we have become known as RISE, we have enjoyed our best year in our 20-year history. SHB: 2016 was a strong year for RISE. Tell us about some of the activity that the company has had. Blais: Let me start with the number $671 million. This figure signifies the development volume for RISE in 2016. Our year and this figure are comprised of several milestones. Our on-campus division completed three student housing projects. We were awarded the largest on-campus proj- ect in our history with a new partnership with Louisiana State University. We broke ground on three off-campus student hous- ing/market rate developments. We sold two off-campus assets. We bought several assets as well and our management company added several projects to its portfolio. We certainly feel blessed by the year we had in 2016 and have hopes that 2017 will be equally strong for RISE. SHB: You mentioned the LSU project, which is a large deal for RISE. What does your deal with LSU involve? Blais: This is a big deal for RISE. It's the larg- est student housing project that we've ever been involved with. We currently are under construction on the first of three phases — the first phase is apartment-style living on the edge of the LSU campus near the sporting venues. Phase I consists of over 1 million square feet and includes 1,930 beds, almost 50,000 square feet of retail and an 800-space RISE developed SkyVue Pittsburgh, a market-rate project that serves the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon, Carlow University, and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. The local area has a base of medical/educational employers. GREG BLAIS President, RISE