AUSTIN, TX-American Campus Communities Inc. has beefed up its development pipeline over the past 12 months and expects to break ground on $255 million worth of new student housing projects in 2011. The student housing REIT made the announcement during its fourth quarter and year-end 2010 earnings call and provided additional details in its supplemental analyst package.

In addition to the newly announced projects, ACC already has four student housing projects totaling $190.4 million under development across the nation. In total, the REIT’s development pipeline totals $337.3 million--a substantial difference from the same period last year when it had no owned properties under development.

The REIT is targeting one-year nominal yields of 7.5% to 7.75% on the projects slated to break ground this year.