Gilbane, CBRE IM Land Financing for Student Housing Project
Webster Bank provided more than $63 million for this development.
A joint venture between Gilbane Development Co. and CBRE Investment Management is developing Zaya, a 352-unit, 702-bed student housing community in Gainesville, Fla. The partners obtained a $63.4 million loan from Webster Bank for this project, according to Alachua County public records.
Zaya is one of the six student housing properties involved in the joint venture’s formation. The partnership’s holdings also include three operational communities that are being recapitalized through a General Partner-led secondary and two other shovel-ready projects.
Site work is already underway at the five-story development. Completion is expected in the summer of 2027.
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Zaya will rise at 3600 SW 20th Ave., within walking distance of the University of Florida at Gainesville campus and 3 miles from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Downtown Gainesville is 5 miles away, while the city’s regional airport is less than 10 miles northeast.
The community will have private en-suite baths for every bed. Common-area amenities are set to include a rooftop deck with pickleball court, swimming pool, clubhouse and fitness center. The property will also have study rooms on every floor, a coworking lounge and a coffee bar, as well as three courtyards for lawn games, outdoor cooking and lounge settings.
Gilbane’s student housing development pipeline
Gilbane currently has more than $8.5 billion in development and about 25,000 residential units either completed or under construction across the U.S. The firm’s student housing projects total more than 23,000 beds.
At the end of last year, Gilbane started work on Pique, a 485-bed student housing community in Berkeley, Calif. The development is rising four blocks from the University of California Berkeley.
