Carter Starts Construction of San Antonio Student Housing
Real estate developer Carter has started work on a 198-unit, 590-bed student housing project about half a mile from the University of Texas at San Antonio.
By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor
San Antonio—Real estate developer Carter has started work on a 198-unit, 590-bed student housing project about half a mile from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). The 16-acre property will include 121 flats and 77 townhomes built around a “town center.”
The apartments will feature a mixture of two-, three- and four-bedroom units, and the townhomes will include two-car garages. Common amenities will include a resort-style pool, dog park, fitness center with tanning beds, media/game room and volleyball and basketball courts. The property is also less than a mile from the 125-acre UTSA Park West, the school’s athletic facility that will include a 35,000-seat football stadium once construction of it is complete.
Conor McNally, chief development officer at Carter, tells MHN that he sees two factors that will continue to drive demand for purpose-built student housing in the San Antonio market. “First, as with many other university markets around the country, newer purpose-built student housing product is replacing demand for older apartment and single-family rental product in the market,” he says. “Students are being given better options both in terms of proximity to campus and quality of amenities and finishes.”
The other reason is simple growth in student populations. “With future growth in enrollment and improvements in the retention rate of students, more demand will be created for purpose-built product,” McNally says. UTSA is a branch of the state university system, located in northwestern San Antonio. Its enrollment has increased by nearly 10 percent since 2006.
Construction of the project began recently, with a scheduled completion date of July 2014. The project design team includes Reese Vanderbilt & Associates as the architect, Pape-Dawson Engineers Inc. as the civil engineering firm and SpawGlass as the contractor. Cardinal Group Management will provide property management and leasing services for the project.
