Student Housing Booms Despite Downturn

ATLANTA-Student housing may be one of the few areas of commercial development not being rocked by the economic downturn lately, the thinking being that college is a necessity in good times and bad. The question becomes, where to live while earning a degree?

Today’s students, even at the community college level, have more living options on and near campus than ever before, with a limited number of builders providing such complexes. Factor in larger numbers of students each year, including those taking longer to graduate, and the prospects for continued development of student housing look bright enough to make the dean’s list.

“The 16-to-24 age curve is increasing and will continue for the next several years,” observes Brent Little, executive VP of Place Properties LLC, an Atlanta-based student housing developer. “Anything that happens to the economy doesn’t change that fact.”