Tramell Seeks to Convert Hospitality for Student Housing Around UCF

Tramell Webb Partners Inc. is seeking to swap hospitality entitlement permissions in favor of student housing.

The real estate developer is aiming to do this near the University of Central Florida in Gainesville, at 11810 High Tech Avenue, according to a report from the Orlando Business Journal. The trade-off would be 133 hotel rooms, taking up 13,120 square feet for 475 student housing beds. It would be built on 2.38 acres of land.

The move would follow the Orlando-based firm’s conversion of office entitlements for its Concourse project, which is at Quadrangle Business Park, just across the Alafaya Trail from UFC, according to the news outlet. Upon completion, it would include 40,000 square feet of office space space and 896 student beds. According to Tramell, construction for the mixed-use project is set to begin in 2024.

Also, Tramell has another student housing project anticipated to break the ground this year, which is for 3450 E Fletcher. It’s located north of the main entrance of the University of South Florida. The 620-unit project is set to feature a nine-story building and a seven-story parking garage.

For the 2024-2025 calendar year, the student housing market has gone through some struggles. Yardi Matrix’s national student report in July revealed that preleasing for 200 schools lagged five percent behind year-over-year levels. Yardi forecasts five percent fewer beds will be delivered in 2024 compared with the previous year.

Tramell hasn’t set a meeting yet to review its High Tech Avenue conversion plan and it’s unclear when it would break the ground, according to the Orlando Business Journal.