News
Student Housing, Part Deux
December 12, 2012
| Off-campus student housing development is still hot, but put a property a little too far away, and it might get a cold reception from students. (The last thing a student wants after a long night at the library is a longer walk to a bed.) | ||
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| The recent trend toward putting student housing closer to campuses was one of takeaway from Bisnow’s Chicago Student Housing Summit. Universities feel that bringing students closer fosters better learning. (It also gets rid of "traffic" as an excuse for being late.) 325 attendees came to the summit last week at the W Chicago-City Center. | ||
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| Panelists also said student housing REITs have been outperforming the broader REIT index quite a lot, but besides REITs that specialize in student housing, there isn’t a lot of performance data out there compared to other asset classes. Among recent large portfolio sales, cap rates have been approaching 5%, though it’s hard to imagine them going any lower. Pictured: Harrison Street Real Estate Capital SVP Brian Thompson and Nove International SVP Dr Janice Johnson, who moderated. | ||
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| There was skepticism that LEED cert for new student housing properties is necessary, partly because it’s hard to justify the cost, but also because students say they want it, but aren’t always willing to pay more for it. (Seems like airtight student logic.) On the other hand, it was pointed out that while certification might be overrated, energy-efficient building practices are not. A developer who doesn’t pay attention to energy use in student housing risks seeing the building become obsolete if energy costs skyrocket. Pictured: VOA associate principal Mike Siegel and John Buck Co principal Rafael Carreira. | ||
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| The 18-year-old consumer (and parents) are demanding more from student housing, and universities and their development partners are working to meet those expectations. They’re acting on the belief that a better living environment promotes better learning, which is the point of making a significant investment in a college education, the panel said. Creating a better living environment is more than just adding amenities; it means designing properties that promote a connection between the students and their university. Pictured: Opus Development Corp real estate manager Mark Bell and Harrison Street's Brian Thompson. | ||
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| At the summit we snapped John Cross of the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), Integrity Wall’s Fred Hartmann, and AISC’s Tabitha Stine. AISC, a Bisnow sponsor HQ'd in Chicago, is a not-for-profit technical institute and trade association whose mission is to make structural steel the material of choice through structural-steel-related technical and market-building activities. | ||
