Student housing has come a long way since my days at the University of Florida – a bygone era that began shortly after the invention of fire. The places where we lived didn’t exactly attract a whole lot of investor interest, but all that’s been changing. Student housing is the hot, new and evolving sector of commercial real estate.
I talked about the trend with Andy Hogshead, Chief Executive Officer at The Collier Companies, the largest privately held owner of student housing in the U.S.
“I think most people perceive student housing to be some sort of variant of (the movie) ‘Animal House,'” he said.
“In fact, the opposite is true. We have parent guarantors. We have very strict lifestyle policies. And we just generally set expectations. We have a whole housing option that has sort of evolved, including by-the-bed leasing where parents aren’t responsible for all of the roommates on a lease, just their child. That has allowed us to focus on building specific projects for the students that are highly amenitized and much more like resorts.
“Along with that comes a level of respect for the property. Kids see a nice property, and they’re less inclined to want to trash it.”
Hogshead said there will always be a percentage of students who want to live in a house or an apartment, but many – especially undergraduates – want a social experience. They want to have several roommates because that provides the opportunity for more friends.
They also want amenities – lots of amenities, he said. For parents, the cost is less burdensome than you might think because they’re only paying for the one bedroom their student uses.
Energy conservation is another way student housing providers can hold costs down. I spoke with Cory Vanderpool of Magnum Energy Solutions about the work her company is doing in this area.
Magnum often works with colleges and universities to help them reduce their energy needs by, for example, installing occupancy sensors tied to thermostats in the dorms.
“It’s been a really important and growing vertical for us,” Vanderpool said.
“We have documented case studies of colleges and universities where we’re helping them save, on average, between 25 and 45 percent on energy. However, we also have instances where – when students were not on campus – we’ve documented 68 percent energy savings.”
Vanderpool said the technology isn’t limited to large structures like dorms and apartments. It’s flexible enough to benefit off-campus, private housing, too.
Click here to listen to the interviews with Andy Hogshead of The Collier Companies and Cory Vanderpool of Magnum Energy Solutions.
