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 testament to the reality that the industry is moving forward coming out of the pandemic.
In Yardi’s National Student Housing Report, which was released in January of this year, it was reported that 19,000 beds delivered at the company’s top 200 university markets in 2021, down more than 30,000 beds from levels seen over the previous few years. Yardi forecasts that 2022 will see 25,000 beds delivered as development levels edge closer to recent norms. At the time of publishing, there were more than 135,000 beds in various stages of development in Yardi’s top 200 markets with 49,000 beds under construction. Most of these projects are concentrated in the Southern and Southwestern U.S. — particularly in Texas and Florida.
We are breaking down our Top Developer rankings by number of beds under development/in the pipeline this year. The following are this year’s top 25:
Ranking first in our 2022 Top Developer ranking is Athens, Georgia-based Landmark Properties with 36,038 beds under development across 48 projects. The company — which also topped our list as the industry’s most active developer in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 — has developments underway including The Standard at Philadelphia adjacent to the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University; The Standard at Bloomington near Indiana University; and The Standard at Columbia near the University of South Carolina.
Landmark is also active in acquisitions, forming a joint venture last year with a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) initially targeting $1 billion in investment.
Coming in second in this year’s list is Chicago-based Core Spaces. The company has been near the top of SHB’s list for several years, boasting a pipeline of 35 new developments totaling 33,095 beds set for delivery by fall 2025. Core Spaces is currently developing Hub on Campus II, a 577-bed student housing development located near the University of Southern California in Los Angeles; and the Hub Atlanta, a student housing community located near the Georgia Institute of Technology campus in Atlanta’s Midtown neighborhood.
Rounding out this year’s top five developers are Harrison Street with 32 projects underway through fall 2025 totaling 20,921 beds; CA Ventures with a 40-development pipeline totaling 20,204 beds; and Greystar, which has 18 projects underway totaling 14,000 beds.
—Katie Sloan
This article was originally published in the March/April 2022 issue of Student Housing Business magazine. To subscribe, please click here.