Hawkins Way Pays $46M for Student Housing Asset
This marks the company’s fifth acquisition in Northern California.
Hawkins Way Capital has acquired Varsity Berkeley, a 79-unit, 159-bed student housing community in Berkeley, Calif. Barings was the previous owner, according to Yardi Matrix information.
This marks the company’s fifth acquisition in Northern California. The asset changed hands for $46.3 million, the San Francisco Business Times reported.
Varsity Berkeley previously traded in late 2015, the year it was completed, when a private individual sold the property to Barings for $51 million—or $645,569 per unit—Yardi Matrix shows.
Hawkins Way Capital will rebrand the community as FOUND Study Downtown Berkeley and FCL Management will handle management at the property. Starting next summer, the new owner plans to upgrade all units.
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The two five-story buildings encompass studio, two- and three-bedroom floorplans ranging between 465 and 1,280 square feet. All units feature private balconies or patios, while select layouts are fully furnished.
Common-area amenities include a rooftop terrace, a recently renovated residential lounge, courtyard with fire pit and outdoor seating, EV charging station and bike storage.
The community is at 2024 Durant Ave., in downtown Berkeley, within walking distance of the University of California at Berkeley campus and close to multiple dining and retail options. Downtown San Francisco and the San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport are some 13 miles away.
UC Berkeley sees student housing inventory expansion
The University of California-Berkeley’s total enrollment for fall 2023 was 45,699 students, according to Yardi Matrix information, slightly above the 45,307 registered in the previous year. In 2022, there were about 10,478 beds off- and on-campus serving the university.
Last month, Panoramic Interests obtained $30 million in construction financing for the development of The Northside, a 73-unit student community near UC Berkeley. The seven-story development will come online in 2026.
