coronavirus

Spring semester is now underway at some schools, but for many universities and colleges, the roadmap for returning to campus after winter break was less than crystal clear. A number of institutions have pushed back re-opening their campus to a later date, hoping to bring students back once COVID-19 case numbers have lowered. These delays have resulted in slower leasing velocity in certain markets, but not by a tremendous amount. Charlie Matthews, principal of College House Data, notes that State College, Pennsylvania, felt an impact in leasing after Pennsylvania State …

0 FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail
Rand Ginsburg

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the start of the pandemic, it is undeniable that COVID-19 has had an impact on the way we go about our day-to-day lives. Across every sector of commercial real estate, we’ve had to pivot and adjust all aspects of our business — including the massive and timely process of moving residents in and out of our communities.  Prior to the start of the pandemic, GMH Capital Partners had implemented an efficient move-in process that was mostly contactless. Over the course of the last …

0 FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail
Baird

Student Housing Business talked with Michael Baird, managing director of municipal finance at RBC Capital Markets, regarding the pandemic’s impact on funding for public-private partnership developments and potential long-term changes in the industry moving forward.  SHB: How would you characterize lender receptiveness to public-private partnership student housing deals across 2020? Has it changed as the year progressed?   Baird: P3 student housing has had a solid track record as a well-performing asset class for many years. While the global pandemic has negatively impacted many sectors, higher education — and specifically P3 student …

0 FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail
ACC-Georgetown

Each year public-private partnership development seems to hit a new milestone within the industry. Universities have come to realize the benefits of leveraging the expertise and funding options available to the private sector in order to create best-in-class, unique residence halls for their students. While this continues to be true, 2020 has not been a banner year for new development on-campus. To the contrary, requests for proposals have nearly ground to a halt as the COVID-19 pandemic brought unforeseen challenges to university housing departments.  Institutions were no longer focused on …

0 FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

Ever awakened surprised you didn’t have a hangover? Many student housing operators are feeling that way this fall. With many universities closing early in March 2020, a number of off-campus student housing properties expected to see their unexpected vacancies translate into unpaid rent, and those unpaid rents turn into collections. But that didn’t happen; most renters honored their contracts and continued to pay their rents. Moreover, leasing for fall 2020 remained strong in most college markets, bolstering the industry’s recession — and now pandemic — resistant reputation.  Off-campus student housing …

0 FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail
The Ruckus

Pullman, Wash. — Highland Realty Capital has secured a $40.95 million bridge loan for The Ruckus, a 976-bed student housing community located near Washington State University in Pullman. The company secured financing — $2 million of which will be used to convert 89 four-bedroom units into three-bedroom units with bed-to-bath parity — through a Los Angeles-based debt fund on behalf of the borrower, NB Private Capital (NBPC). “Bed-to-bath parity is always an issue, and with COVID-19, it became an obvious upgrade for us to make,” says Blake Wettengel, president of NBPC. 

0 FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

Lansing, Mich. — The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services issued an emergency order on Sunday, Nov. 15, that enacted a three-week pause on indoor social gathering in an effort to curb rapidly rising COVID-19 infection rates. Universities, colleges and high schools have been ordered to end in-person classes, shifting exclusively to remote learning. Bars and restaurants will be open for outdoor dining, carryout and delivery only; gyms will remain open for individual exercise with strict safety measures in place; casinos, movie theaters and group exercise classes will be …

0 FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

Prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, student housing development was moving forward at a fast clip. This was particularly seen in the public-private partnership development (P3) segment, which has been growing in popularity year by year as universities and colleges look to private developers to modernize their housing stock without dipping into the institution’s budget.  Last week, Student Housing Business hosted a complimentary webinar during which Patrick Martin of Louisiana State University, Matt Dull of Appalachian State, Andrew Christ of New Jersey Institute of Technology and moderators Jeremy …

0 FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail
22 Exchange

Akron, Ohio — Capstone Real Estate Investments (CREI) has acquired 22 Exchange, a 471-bed student housing community located near the University of Akron in Ohio, for $12.5 million. The property offers two-, three- and four-bedroom units alongside shared amenities including a 24-hour fitness center, a computer center and 22,104 square feet of ground floor retail. Sean Baird and Jonathan Holt of Colliers International represented both the buyer and seller, Rialto Capital Management, in the transaction. “The impact of COVID-19 on college campuses has made student housing deals more challenging in …

0 FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail

When the news of the coronavirus disease first began slowly whispering its way through the country in early 2020, the idea of a full-blown, global pandemic was the furthest thing from anyone’s mind — especially in the off-campus student housing sector, or the housing market in general. Now, nine months into 2020 and just weeks — or months depending on where you live in the U.S. — post-lock-down and that far-fetched concept of a global pandemic has become a very sobering reality.  Schools, colleges and universities shut down well before …

0 FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmail