Student Housing Portfolio Trades for $250M

Nine @ West Campus. Image courtesy of Google Maps

A cross-border investment group led by student housing developer Landmark Properties has closed on the $250 million acquisition of two portfolios of student accommodation totaling nearly 1,600 beds in Michigan, Texas and Florida. Landmark Properties was joined in the acquisition by Ocean West Capital Partners and South Korean investors Korea Investment & Securities Co. and Tiger Alternative Investors Ltd.

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The first portfolio acquired by the group consists of two properties adjacent to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich.:

• Z Place (248 beds) at 619 E. University Ave.;
• Z West (198) beds) at 401 Thompson St.

Built in 2009 and 2012, the communities are fully leased with convenient locations within one block of central campus and the large open space known as the Diag. The new ownership plans to make capital improvements to the living units, common areas and amenities of the properties.

The second, more recently acquired portfolio encompasses three new communities near the University of Texas at Austin and Florida State University in Tallassee. The off-market deal includes:

• Nine @ West Campus (345 beds) at 2518 Leon St. in Austin, Texas;
• Nine @ Rio (347 beds) at 2100 Rio Grande St. in Austin, Texas;
• Nine @ Tallahassee (438 beds) at 924 W Pensacola St. in Tallahassee, Fla.

Nine @ West Campus first opened in time for the 2018-19 academic year, while the other two properties are currently in their first years of operation and are fully leased. Landmark Properties and its partners bought the trio of assets from 908 Group.

Landmark Properties recently announced that it will develop seven new student housing properties totaling 4,450 beds in six states across the U.S., worth a combined $1 billion.