Greystar Secures $600M for Student Housing Projects
Major universities in Maryland and Texas will be the locations of these developments.
Knox Road. Image courtesy of Greystar
Greystar Real Estate Partners has started construction of three mixed-use student housing developments after closing on $600 million in financing for the projects that are set to deliver by fall 2024.
Two of the three projects are being developed through public-private partnerships—one at University of Texas at Austin and another at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Julie Skolnicki, senior managing director of Greystar, said in a prepared statement the real estate company has seen an increase in demand for high-quality student housing and complex mixed-use P3 structures at top-tier institutions in the United States. Giving credit to Greystar’s development, finance, investment and university partnership teams for closing on the transactions and breaking ground on all three projects, Skolnicki said the company is looking forward to supporting the evolution of the campuses.
Two in Texas
Union on San Antonio is a P3 project being developed with St. Austin Catholic Parish that will include a $170.7 million high-rise with 425 units and 991 beds. Located one block from the UT Austin campus at the corner of San Antonio and 21st streets, it will also include a new parish, rectory and K-8 school for $32 million. Amenities at the student housing property will include a pool, rooftop deck and fitness center. The project is being designed by Page. Greystar’s Austin team will oversee development and construction management with Hensel Phelps as the general contractors.
Greystar will lead the development and self-perform construction at the second UT Austin project, The Union on 24th. The property will include a $262 million high-rise with 552 units and 1,448 beds for the West Campus submarket.
Maryland Moves
A $240 million P3 project with Terrapin Development Co. will be built at the University of Maryland, College Park, on a 1.7-acre site on the corner of Knox Road and Sterling Place, adjacent to the residence halls and surrounding retail corridor.
TDC is an entity comprised of the University of Maryland College Park and the University of Maryland College Park Foundation. The mixed-use project will have 341 units and 788 beds along with 22,000 square feet of retail, a multi-use outdoor common space and fitness center. WDG is the project designer and Greystar’s Mid-Atlantic team will oversee the construction with JMA as the general contractor.
U.S., European Assets
Greystar, which develops, manages and invests in rental properties across the globe, has been active in student housing recently both in the U.S. and Europe. In the U.S., Sacramento State University in Sacramento, Calif., held a ribbon-cutting ceremony in late July to mark the opening of Hornet Commons, a 1,100-bed student housing community developed in partnership with Greystar.
In September, Greystar teamed with Ivanhoé Cambridge Holdings UK Ltd. and Bouwinvest Real Estate Investors agreed to acquire a 370-unit co-living asset in the western suburb of Paris that will be the first asset in the partnership’s Paris student and young professional housing venture announced in June 2020 with an investment capacity of €1 billion, or about $1.16 billion.
Earlier in the year in Europe, Greystar acquired a 2,163-unit portfolio of five student housing projects across the United Kingdom from KKR for $408 million. The purpose-built student accommodation developments are located in London, Glasgow, Coventry and Bristol.
