NEW YORK CITY—We're exactly two weeks away from one of the premier events in the student housing business. RealShare Student Housing 2013, to be held May 13-14 at the Four Seasons resort in Dallas, will bring together leaders from all facets of the industry under one roof to share information and insight on one of the hottest sectors in commercial real estate today. Details of what to expect follow, but I encourage you to visit the event page for the full agenda and register for the conference. It's a great chance to network with your colleagues, develop new business contacts and see what everyone else is up to (not to mention soak in some sun and play a round or two of golf).
One of the highlights of the event will be a special luncheon held to honor two dozen executives who have been selected as Pioneers of the student housing industry. These now-household names, who have helped to establish and grow the sector into what it is today, will be recognized for their contributions to the industry during a special presentation.
Many of those Pioneers will also speak at the event, including five who will appear on the Industry Leaders panel. Another highlight of the RealShare series, the session will include David Adelman, president of Campus Apartments; Bill Bayless, president and CEO of American Campus Communities; Peter Katz, executive director of IPA; Donna Preiss, founder and CEO of the Preiss Co.; Al Rabil, managing partner and CEO of Kayne Anderson; and Bob Clark, president of Peak Campus Communities, who will moderate.
Among the topics to be discussed will be how long student housing's strong run will continue. As well as it's been doing for the past several years, there are some headwinds. Bayless reveals that while ACC's portfolio has been stable from a leasing perspective, some softening is creeping into the industry. Further, some markets could be subject to overbuilding.
ACC's earnings showed a healthy 2012, but Bayless indicates some markets experienced a softening in leasing. That's why choosing your markets carefully is a critical part of one's strategy. “Focusing on larger, tier-one flagship properties is a more stable play," he told GlobeSt.com. "We see that reflected in the cap rates."
Of the 34,000 new beds coming on line this year, a third are in Austin and San Marcos, TX; State College, PA; and Statesboro, GA. These markets are becoming overbuilt, he explains, because there are few barriers to entry and plenty of land available for construction. Basically, “student housing is lucrative and can be successful if you stay disciplined in terms of asset quality, related to proximity to campus and interior submarkets, and are mindful of barriers to entry,” he relates.
Similarly, Preiss stated in a GlobeSt.com video that “the biggest issue facing student housing development is that there are no issues. So you're finding that more and more peope want to get into the development business, and that is concerning the agencies and some of the other banks. Do we have too many people getting into the industry?”
The sector's popularity has also brought in a bevy of new names, as we've seen in the rising attendance numbers for the RealShare conference over the years. Yet this is a double-edged sword, as Pioneer and RealShare speaker Brian Dinerstein points out. “The business has matured, which has brought in new players and new capital. This is great, but it could lead to some more challenges,” says the executive, who is partner and president of the Houston-based Dinerstein Cos., which develops student housing under the Sterling University Housing brand.
Other sessions at the event will include a special panel with representatives from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to discuss the agencies' activities in the student housing arena. Debt and equity experts will address what the capital stack looks like in student housing in a “Meet the Money” session. They will explore what capital is available to complete deals, whether institutional investors find student housing appealing, what local banks are doing, what the private equity sector thinks, where cap rates will go and much more. There will also be panels focusing on everything from acquisitions and dispositions to development and property management.
To find out more about the RealShare Student Housing 2013 conference, click here.
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.
Sule Aygoren
Aygoren oversees the editorial direction and content for ALM’s Real Estate Media Group, including Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com. In her tenure with ALM, she’s held roles of increasing responsibility, including Managing Editor. Aygoren has received several awards for her coverage including Best Trade Magazine Report from the National Association of Real Estate Editors and the James D. Carper Award for Young Journalists. Under her direction, Forum has received four national NAREE awards for Best Commercial Real Estate Trade Magazine.
