GMH and CBRE Global Investors Team Up for Student Investments

GMH Communities and CBRE Global Investors fund have entered into a programmatic joint venture to acquire existing core and value-add student housing assets for GMH’s Student Living vertical in specific markets across the US.

In the first phase of the partnership, the venture will acquire and reposition student housing communities over the next 18 months.

GMH Communities and CBRE Global Investors did not return a request for further information to GlobeSt.com. 

In its first investment, the joint venture bought SOVA Student Living, a 248-unit student housing community in Marietta, Ga., that services Kennesaw State University. The five-story building, which offers a mix of one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom fully furnished apartments, can accommodate up to 816 students. 

“With US college enrollment climbing each year, the student housing sector has tended to be resilient through various cycles,” said Kim Hourihan, Chief Investment Officer for CBRE Global Investors’ Americas Direct Real Estate Strategies, in a prepared statement. “SOVA is the first of many strategic investments that we will make with GMH, and we look forward to continue growing our partnership with this best-in-class operator.”

GMH owns and operates more than 89,600 student housing beds. In addition to SOVA in Marietta, Georgia, the company recently added The Dean Campustown in Champaign, Illinois and Academy65 in Sacramento, California to its portfolio.

“Our partnership with CBRE Global Investors enables us to rapidly grow our student housing portfolio and bring a global institutional platform to a long-term asset class,” Gary Holloway Jr., president of GMH Communities, said in a prepared statement.

While the average enrollment figures for post-secondary schools are tepid, there is some upside potential in student housing. The US institutional student housing market is poised to remain a steady option for real estate investors, according to a new report from the National Multifamily Housing Council.

NMHC estimates the student housing market will grow from 8.5 million beds last year to 9.2 million by 2031, accounting for an average annual increase of 0.8% per year, while enrollment in post-secondary schools will increase annually by 1.1% on average. Most of that growth, according to NMHC, will occur in public four-year universities.  

“Even in the face of a more challenging demographic environment, there will still be pockets of opportunity for the more discerning investor,” the report notes.