QuadReal Invests $1.6B in CA Student Living
The Canadian investment giant is taking its years-long partnership with the U.S. student housing operator to the next level.
CA student housing community. Image courtesy of QuadReal
Canada’s QuadReal Property Group has acquired a 50 percent interest in U.S. partner CA Ventures’ $4 billion student housing business, as the global real estate investment firm banks on the resilience of student apartments through the current crisis.
QuadReal’s $1.6 billion commitment converts its existing entity-level investments into an ownership stake in CA Student Living, the student housing operating company. The cross-border partnership began in 2017, when QuadReal agreed to invest $600 million of equity in a portfolio of CA projects. Since then, QuadReal’s investments have helped CA deliver 11,432 beds in 23 university markets.
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CA Living has built more than 60 student housing communities spanning more than 35,000 beds nationwide since its inception in 2004. This year, the company has delivered nine communities in the U.S. with nearly 4,000 beds, all of them completed in time for the 2020-21 academic year.
In a prepared statement, the firm said it has seen a “measurable increase” in year-over-year leasing activity since the start of the fall semester, with CA’s same-store portfolio already pre-leased to 95 percent for the academic year.
Branching out
CA has also brought its student housing business overseas, announcing a strategy last year to invest $625 million per year on projects in the UK and Ireland. This past February, the company said it would spend $325 million on ground-up student housing developments in Mexico.
CA and QuadReal plan to maintain their focus on the development and acquisition of student housing properties within walking distance of large, well-regarded, research-oriented universities, the companies noted.
QuadReal, which manages a $44.3 billion real estate portfolio across 17 countries, has other multifamily investments in the U.S., including a $421 million joint venture with Mill Creek Residential formed in April.
