Subtext Enters Virginia With Student Housing
The developer’s sixth deal in 2024 is also the brand’s largest.
Subtext is set to enter the Virginia market with VERVE Charlottesville, a student housing community serving the University of Virginia. Developed with joint venture equity partner Kayne Anderson Real Estate, the project is expected to begin construction this month.
VERVE Charlottesville will include 1,332 beds in 463 units over 729,262 square feet. Student housing layouts will range from studios to four-bedrooms.
Located at 100 Stadium Rd., residents will be directly next to UVA as well as in close proximity to downtown Charlottesville and the University Hospital.
“The attraction to the Charlottesville market, particularly for VERVE’s first Virginia development, stems from the unique combination of a world-class academic institution and a vibrant, high-quality community,” Mitchell Korte, executive vice president of development, Subtext, told Multi-Housing News.
UVA continues to grow at a record-breaking pace. However, the university lacks purpose-build student housing with less than 700 beds added to the market in the last five years.
“The University of Virginia is an iconic public university with nationally ranked programs, a robust NCAA Division I athletics program and a renowned academic medical center,” Korte said. Further, UVA has recently earned accolades such as the top college in Virginia by Forbes for 2024-25.
VERVE Charlottesville is scheduled to open in the summer of 2027. It is Subtext’s sixth deal in 2024 and the company’s largest development to date under the VERVE brand.
Designed with amenities
VERVE Charlottesville is set to be constructed with amenities including a dedicated library, open and private study spaces, a fireside lobby lounge and a coffee café. Students will also have access to a two-story fitness and wellness center paired with an outdoor fitness lawn.
Recreational and social spaces will include a club room, multi-sport game simulator, pool and pool terrace and a dog spa and pet park.
The project lender is Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation while ESG Architecture & Design is heading up architecture and interiors. The development’s general contractor is John Moriarty & Associates with WOLF ACKERMAN DESIGN as the consulting architect at the local level.
Additionally, SK&A is providing structural engineering, AJC Design Group will be in charge of landscape architecture, Williams Mullen is the local counsel and Timmons Group will head up the civil engineering.
Subtext’s continued growth
In addition to the development of VERVE Charlottesville, Subtext will donate $6.8 million to the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund as part of project agreements. The money will support the local community and the city’s housing goals.
Prior to Charlottesville, Subtext has had a highly active year in the student housing space. Recently, in partnership with Nuveen Real Estate, the company acquired more than 3 acres in Orlando for the construction of VERVE Orlando. Located nearby the University of Central Florida, the 200-unit, 446,078-square-foot community will offer 626 beds in a mix of studio, one-, two-, three-, four-, and five-bedroom layouts.
The company is also planning its second project in the St. Louis market. LOCAL on Delmar is a 259-unit, 359,255-square-foot property slated for completion in the summer of 2026. Nearby Washington University, LOCAL on Delmar will have about 12,000 square feet of shared amenity spaces.
