Investcorp Acquires Student Housing Duo for $160M

Investcorp has acquired student housing properties at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Florida at Gainesville. The two assets, totaling 914 beds, changed hands for $160 million.

The addresses and identities of the individual properties were not disclosed. A spokesperson for Investcorp declined to comment.

Investcorp, in a prepared statement, said the company has invested in acquisition activity over the past two years while competitors remained on the sidelines. He added that the property at the University of Florida is a completely new, Class A+ asset completed and delivered in October 2023 and profits from an unrivaled address directly adjacent to the university campus. The University of Texas property is 11 years old and is proximate to campus. Investcorp plans light value-add business plans at both properties, which will be initiated in the near future.

Investcorp was an early entry into the competition for student housing communities a dozen years ago. The firm has since continued this commitment, based on consistently robust fundamentals. These include ongoing enrollment growth, limited pipelines of new student housing development on- and off-campus and comparative resilience through varying market cycles. For the 2023-24 academic year, the firm’s student housing portfolio is 99 percent occupied. Moreover, the newly acquired properties appear to be besting market averages in pre-leasing for the upcoming 2024-25 school year.

Over the past nearly 30 years, Investcorp has acquired more than 1,300 properties for more than $25 billion. Since the firm’s entry into student housing ownership, it has owned and managed more than 25 student housing investments and more than 16,500 beds. Pre-leasing in student housing reached 80 percent in May.