Singapore — Ascott Residence Trust (ART) has acquired four student housing communities in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Ohio for $213 million.
Acquisitions include The Link at University City, a 251-bed property offering fully furnished units near the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University in Philadelphia; Latitude on Hillsborough, a 523-bed property serving students attending North Carolina State University in Raleigh; Uncommon Wilmington, a 493-bed community located near the University of North Carolina Wilmington; and Latitude at Kent, a 384-bed property serving students attending Kent State University in Ohio.
The acquisition was 92 percent funded by debt and 8 percent funded through remaining proceeds from the company’s private placement in September. With this transaction, the Singapore-based company now owns eight U.S. student housing properties totaling 4,400 beds.
“ART’s student accommodation assets in the U.S. have proven to be resilient throughout COVID-19,” says Beh Siew Kim, CEO of Ascott Residence Trust Management Limited. “We are investing more into the sector given the favourable conditions of the overall student accommodation market in the U.S.”