Donna Preiss Talks Demand
Priess Co founder/CEO Donna Priess says there's more to the student housing boom than supply. She focuses on the other side of the equation: demand, which is growing even as student enrollment remains flat. Join Donna and many other industry experts at Bisnow's national annual Student Housing forum event on June 14 in Philadelphia. We'll discuss student housing investment strategies and trends, and get you updated on the latest news. Read on for a sneak peek with Donna.
Donna's perfect student housing project: a boutique 100-bed building adjacent to campus, pedestrian-friendly but with a parking structure and it costs about $900/month.
She knows what students–and investors–want. Preiss is blowing way past its estimate of purchasing 10 deals in 2016. It's acquired five properties in four months and will close on three projects at the end of May. The latest buy was Campus Edge in Raleigh, NC. Preiss will spend $2.2M to renovate the 25-acre garden-style community before the 2017-18 school term.
The company’s aggressive strategy has seen it expand to 23 markets nationwide.
The fast and voluminous deal flow isn’t just a spurt of activity from increased enrollment. Donna sees a boost in demand at many universities that aren't getting more students. College enrollment has grown at about 1% a year for the past 15 years and there are more kids in high school today that will attend college than ever before. Demand for purpose built student housing has never been stronger. Lots of economic drivers are at work, Donna says. In addition to growth in student population, she says mature markets are migrating out of hybrid into purpose-built student housing, further fueling growth.
Another factor: nobody does education better than we do. America rocks at student housing. There currently are about 13 million students in four-year universities, ages 18-25.
International students currently account for about 7 percent of that population and continue to grow rapidly, adding some 100,000 net new students last year.
Donna tells us amenities, not substance, are driving occupancy and rent–but those amenities are becoming smarter. Tanning beds are already decreasing and in a few years, they’ll be as anachronous as indoor basketball courts. Instead, study rooms and smart boards are where it’s at.
Join Donna and other industry experts on June 14 in Philadelphia for Bisnow's national student housing summit. Register here.
