Each year, Student Housing Business endeavors to determine the industry’s development pipeline for the next four years by requesting projected numbers from leading student housing developers. From this information, we are able to see which companies are most active in the sector and gauge overall development activity. This year’s survey resulted in a net of more than 246,195 beds being developed by SHB’s top 25 ranked developers through fall 2025. Development numbers have ramped up from last year, which saw 217,099 beds under development by SHB’s top 25 — a …
As the largest third-party manager of student housing properties, Houston-based Asset Living is a well-known name in the sector. Called upon by many institutional investors to manage their student housing properties, the company is known for its operational efficiency and quick onboarding of projects. Over the past few years, though, Asset has also taken big strides to grow its presence in other housing sectors, including conventional multifamily, seniors housing and build-for-rent, by acquiring a number of other management firms and technology platforms to bolster its presence in those areas and …
While the global population began its battle with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the U.S. continued its battle against another adversary — systemic racism and discrimination. A series of tragic deaths over the course of the year sparked discourse on racial equality and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, causing many across the nation — from the workplace to their homes — to take a pause to confront the issues of racism and inequality, while evaluating their inherent biases. Many of the leading companies in the student housing …
The fourth quarter of 2021 was one of the most active periods for investment sales in the history of the student housing sector, according to a number of sources SHB spoke with for this article. In addition to some major acquisitions by large investors, an influx of new capital to the industry propelled deals in the second half of the year. The industry had a total volume in 2021 of just over $10 billion, according to CBRE. Approximately $5.52 billion of that volume was sold in the fourth quarter of …
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a mass exodus of students made their way home as universities closed their doors and classes were moved online. While all students were robbed of the traditional college experience during this time, none felt the strain of this shift more than the international student population. These students had to grapple with everything from travel restrictions and visa difficulties, to online learning at all hours of the night to fit the schedules of their student counterparts in the U.S. Starting in fall 2020, international …
If there were any doubt that student housing stakeholders were quickly moving into the single-family build-to-rent market, the question was just settled for good. Chicago-based Harrison Street, one of the industry’s biggest players, recently announced a blockbuster deal to form a joint-venture with Core Spaces, one of student housing’s biggest developers. But this venture isn’t about student housing; it will invest up to $1.5 billion in subdivisions with hundreds of rental homes in markets such as Austin, Denver, Dallas, Orlando and Nashville. “We had an ah-ha moment,” says Justin …
The pandemic isn’t entirely behind us yet, but many colleges and universities see the writing on the wall when it comes to funding future on-campus housing projects. Tighter budgets, more privacy, possible future closures, and nearly two years of delayed, deferred or canceled projects have driven a wedge between what establishments need to offer their students to remain competitive and what they have to work with. Enter the pubic-private partnership (P3). These arrangements between private investment firms and public universities have been bridging the funding gap for nearly 20 years. …
The pandemic has brought many challenges to the student housing industry, particularly as it relates to the much anticipated — and often dreaded — summer turn season. In 2020, the biggest hurdle was keeping shared spaces sanitized while maintaining the safety of residents and onsite staff. Owners and operators had the added challenge of navigating labor shortages, which left many companies scrambling to find everything from cleaning crews to onsite staff, and supply chain issues that resulted in everything from paint to furniture and appliances being stuck offshore or in …
While a move to digital leasing and marketing has long been underway, it’s relevance was cemented at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Without the option of in-person tours or events, owners and operators were forced to create contingency plans for getting heads in beds while also showing enough of their community to prospective residents — and their parents — to make them feel safe and assured in their decision to live off-campus. Leasing activity rose back to historic levels this past fall, and with in-person classes returning en force, …
As summer ended and fall move-in was on the horizon, students, universities and the student housing industry looked forward with anticipation towards the hopeful return to a more normal college experience after a challenging 18 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But while students eagerly prepared for their return to campus, new problems arose for student housing owners, developers and operators in the midst of the busy turn season and fall move-in. Labor and materials shortages ranging from the availability of cleaning crews and healthy on-site staff members, to furniture …