Cardinal Group Buys Student Community for $31M

MetLife provided the acquisition financing.

The community at 730 Stinson St. in Norman, Okla.
The Flats at Norman comprises 17 three-story buildings with two-, three- and four-bedroom floorplans. Image courtesy of Newmark

Horizon Realty Advisors has sold The Flats at Norman, a 204-unit, 612-bed student housing community in Norman, Okla. Cardinal Group Investments acquired the asset for $31.4 million, financing the purchase with a $23.3 million loan from Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., according to Yardi Matrix information. That note matures in 2028.

This marks the firm’s second investment in the market this year. The first was Campus Lodge, a 768-bed student community serving the same university.

Newmark brokered the deal on behalf of the seller. Horizon had purchased the asset in 2022 for $26.5 million from Core Spaces, the same source shows.


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Completed in 2005, the community went through a $3.5 million renovation program in 2017 and was 99 percent occupied at the time of sale. The Flats at Norman comprises 17 three-story buildings spread across more than 18 acres. The unit mix includes two-, three- and four-bedroom floorplans, ranging between 868 and 1,398 square feet.

Common-area amenities include a clubhouse with game area, a fire pit, a grill and picnic areas, a study lounge and a fitness center with yoga studio. The property also has a swimming pool, business center, tanning salon and sand volleyball court.

The community is at 730 Stinson St., 1 mile from the University of Oklahoma at Norman campus and a host of dining options. Downtown Oklahoma City and the Will Rogers World Airport are within 24 miles.

Newmark Multifamily Vice Chair Ryan Lang, Managing Director Jack Brett and Director Ben Harkrider represented the seller.