CHICAGO—South Street Capital, a Chicago-based real estate firm, together with Muinzer Management, have just acquired a 290-bed student housing portfolio near Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN, for $13.2 million. The portfolio consists of five adjacent apartment buildings at 300, 310, and 318 North Salisbury, and 229 and 235 Littleton.

The off-market transaction allowed the two firms to expand their holdings in this vibrant student housing market. The firms plan to upgrade these properties. This move is similar to others made by many providers that now see opportunities in the US student housing sector as it expands.

“Many of the universities in the Power-5 Conferences are expanding horizontally, not vertically,” Marc Muinzer, founder of South Street, tells GlobeSt.com. “The result is a continued land crunch close to campus locations. We feel that this land crunch is going to be exacerbated over the next 10 years. Many of the big schools are going to get much bigger. We believe Purdue is one of the schools that fits this trend. In the best near campus locations, we are bullish on rents and land prices over the medium and long-term.”