Greystar Kicks Off 540-Bed Community Near Boston
The project is the result of a public-private partnership.
A public-private partnership between Greystar Real Estate Partners and Merrimack College has broken ground on a 540-bed student housing community in North Andover, Mass., a Boston submarket. Designed by Cube 3, the development is set to come online in the fall of 2026.
The financing for the student housing project was fully secured through tax-exempt bonds, underwritten by Stifel and issued by MassDevelopment. A Collegiate Housing Foundation affiliate will own the community under a long-term land lease agreement with Merrimack College.
Built on the school’s North Andover campus, the project will represent the largest increase in Merrimack’s on-campus housing stock since 2015. Units will be available for first- and second-year undergraduate students.
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The community will consist of two four-story residence halls. The first building will feature traditional-style student housing across 351 beds, as well as academic space and casual gathering spots on the first floor.
The second structure will provide 189 beds through suite-style units, with living rooms and bathrooms. Other common-area amenities will include a fitness center, an in-building laundry facility and communal spaces.
The development is taking shape at the intersection of Route 114 and Andover Street, with access to interstates 93 and 495. Downtown Boston is some 28 miles away, while the Boston Logan International Airport is roughly 29 miles southeast.
Greystar’s student housing inventory expansion
Greystar’s student housing portfolio currently consists of more than $17.8 billion in assets under management globally. The company owns about 110,000 beds serving 82 universities.
With student housing demand on the rise, the sector remains a hotspot for investors. In August, Greystar acquired Uptown Square, a 316-unit, 512-bed student community in San Marcos, Texas. The property is located adjacent to Texas State University’s main campus and came online in 2015.
Earlier this year, a partnership between Greystar, Provident Resources Group and the University of Washington obtained $183 million in tax-exempt bond financing for the acquisition of two on-campus residence halls in Seattle. The two properties, dubbed Nordheim Court and Radford Court, total more than 850 beds.
