Campus Advantage JV Buys 700-Bed Student Community
The property serves the University of South Carolina.
A joint venture between Campus Advantage and Tramview Capital Management has acquired Alight Columbia, a 206-unit, 700-bed student housing community in Cayce, S.C., serving the University of South Carolina. Scion Group was the previous owner, according to Yardi Matrix information.
The property traded for $25.6 million, Lexington County public records show. The buyer also assumed the outstanding balance of a $24.8 million Fannie Mae originated by Manufacturers and Traders Trust Co. in 2016.
The asset previously changed hands in December 2009, when Scion Group acquired it for $18.2 million from American Campus Communities, the same data provider reveals.
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The current deal marks the joint venture’s second acquisition. In June 2022, the duo purchased The Stretch, a 533-bed student housing community in Lexington, Ky., near the University of Kentucky.
To be rebranded as The Radley, Alight Columbia came online in 1993 and encompasses 10 three-story buildings spread across 19 acres. The unit mix consists of two- and four-bedroom floorplans ranging from 800 to 1,200 square feet. The fully furnished apartments also feature private balconies or patios.
Common-area amenities include a fitness and weight training center, a swimming pool, outdoor grilling stations and a clubhouse, as well as basketball, sand volleyball and tennis courts. The community also has a business center, a poolside lounge and about 810 parking spaces.
Located at 800 Alexander Road, adjacent to Parkland Shopping Center, Alight Columbia is some 2 miles from the University of South Carolina at Columbia campus and the city’s downtown. Columbia Metropolitan Airport is 6 miles southwest.
Student housing deals in the USC market
The University of South Carolina at Columbia campus had a total enrollment of 36,579 students for the fall 2024 academic year, according to Yardi Matrix information. The school has a dormitory capacity of about 9,340 beds and 10,946 off-campus beds.
One of the other properties serving the university is The Standard at Columbia, a 678-bed student housing tower located roughly 2 miles from Alight Columbia. CapitaLand acquired the community from a joint venture between CRG and Landmark Properties in June.
