Student housing on college campuses may become the real estate deal of the year. American Campus Communities, Inc has been developing student dorms and campus apartments since 1996. The company went public in 2004, and the website states it has developed over $1 billion in this specific housing. The company, based in Austin, has built housing at Arizona State University and near Texas A&M, among others. The company is well known for their quality work and building owners can usually expect to increase rent prices once updates are complete.
The most recent transaction of American Campus Communities, Inc is the acquisition of GMH Communities Trust student housing division. This $1.4 billion buyout was completed in June and has hindered some of the buying company’s revenue. American Campus Communities reports quarter increases of 30%. Occupancy has increased and rent has also gone up over the last few quarters. Though the GMH portfolio was a bit weaker than ACC, the company expects that this new deal will serve to continue the steady increases across the board. “While we inherited the GMH portfolio with leasing status approximately 5 percent behind last year’s pace, we believe that given our track record for integration and execution, we can dramatically impact value with the commencement of leasing activities for the 2009-2010 academic year beginning Q4 of this year,” American Campus CEO Bill Bayless says.
With the addition of the GMH portfolio, American Campus Communities now has 88 student housing properties with more than 54,000 beds nationwide. The company will continue to improve on existing properties and increase revenue throughout the next quarter as well.
