EdR Announces Joint Venture at University of Mississippi
A new $36 million off-campus student housing community to open in fall 2013 near the University of Mississippi will be developed, owned and managed through a joint venture between EdR and Landmark Properties.
By Jeffrey Steele, Contributing Writer
Oxford, Miss.—A new $36 million off-campus student housing community to open in fall 2013 near the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., will be developed, owned and managed through a joint venture between EdR and Landmark Properties.
Memphis-based EdR will manage the community, which will be developed and constructed by Landmark Properties. The two companies will jointly own the 668-bed development, with EdR assuming a 70 percent majority ownership.
The development will feature Larndmark-pioneered cottage-style collegiate housing, fostering a neighborhood feel as well as a sense of privacy and individuality that dramatically departs from traditional student apartments. Yet this upscale offering will be priced competitively with its competition.
Noting Landmark has an “excellent reputation for innovative, attractive and quality products,” EdR executive vice president and chief investment officer Tom Trubiana added, “We are proud to partner with them.”
Amenities will include a sprawling outdoor living area with resort-style, multi-tiered swimming pool, sand volleyball, horseshoe pits and green space. The community’s fully appointed clubhouse will serve up a fitness center, tanning beds, Internet café, private and group study rooms, computer lab, game room with gaming systems and fully-equipped community kitchen.
The 160 residential homes that comprise the community will each offer private bathrooms for each bedroom, spacious closet space, full-sized washer and dryer, high ceilings, built-in bookcases, carpet, ceramic tile and hardwood-style vinyl floors and high-speed Internet/cable. All residences will have expansive gourmet kitchens with a full range of appliances.
Construction is slated to start this spring on the development, located approximately one mile west of the University of Mississippi in a primarily residential neighborhood.
The university enrollment at the beginning of the 2011-2012 academic year stood at just under 16,600, making it the largest enrollment in the history of the Oxford campus.
While the university doesn’t publicize enrollment growth projections, overall enrollment at the University of Mississippi has grown by 45 percent since 2000, which equates to yearly increases of 475 students. EdR estimates there will be an approximately 4 percent enrollment growth over the next few years. That translates to a rise in enrollment of approximately 1,560 students by the time the community is completed in about 18 months.
EdR is one of the largest owners, developers and managers of collegiate housing in the United States. A self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust, EdR owns or manages 60 communities in 23 states, with more than 34,200 beds within more than 11,100 units.
