Bayless says acquisition opportunities are flowing from a variety of sources including marketed properties and direct negotiations with owners. He adds that ACC also is working with banks that have taken back distressed properties.
"We expect there to be significant external growth opportunities," Bayless says, adding that the growth will occur in every area of the REIT's business including acquisitions, off-campus development and American Campus Equity (ACE®) projects.
During the first quarter, ACC acquired University Heights, a 528-bed, off-campus property at the University of Alabama at Birmingham for $9.9 million--the value of the property's mortgage indebtedness.
Additionally, the company is actively disposing of properties to take advantage of the growing demand from student housing investors. "During the first quarter, we saw a significant change in market temperament," Bayless notes. "Brokers are expecting more activity, and I expect that to aid in our disposition program."
During the first quarter, ACC sold Cambridge at Southern, a 564-bed owned off-campus property serving students attending Georgia Southern University, for $19.5 million. The buyer, a mid-size student housing owner and operator backed by private equity money, assumed an existing $18.4-million mortgage loan.
Beyond acquisitions and dispositions, Bayless says ACC is moving forward on a number of development projects to "capitalize on several land tracts" it owns. Recently, the REIT broke ground on a 680-bed property in Huntsville, TX across the street from Sam Houston State University.
Next month, the REIT expects to begin work on a 790-bed project near the University of Texas-San Antonio campus and is currently in pre-development with a project at the SUNY-Buffalo. In total, ACC has nearly $290 million worth of off-campus development projects in its pipeline, not including its ACE projects.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
