Prime's Mike Zaransky

The student-housing market has been booming of late. A sampling of projects sees University of Central Florida officials and a private company partnering for the purchase of the 290-room inn that used to serve business travelers. Plans include converting the hotel into a 250-bed dormitory for UCF students. And in Glassboro, NJ bidders are vying to develop West Campus, a $1-billon mixed-use academic, athletic and commercial project at Rowan University. The proposed site totals 285 acres. According to one expert, that market will just continue to expand. The number of people turning 18 in the next decade will reach 80 million, and statistics show that more of them will be attending college. Many campuses, faced with budget crunches and aging dorms, have few adequate places to house all those students. Michael H. Zaransky, a 25-year industry veteran, says this low-supply, high-demand formula creates enormous opportunities for real estate investors. Zaransky is the author of Profit by Investing in Student Housing which details the current-student housing market and offers techniques for investing in the niche. He recently spoke with GlobeSt.com about the red-hot sector.

GlobeSt.com: Just how big is the student housing sector now?

Zaransky: In the past two years, three REITs dedicated to this niche went public. They’ve raised a combined $800 million of equity. When you add that to the amount of debt they can acquire, it’s billions of dollars coming into this sector.