During
the last half of the 20th century, many campuses around the United
States experienced unprecedented growth in enrollment. During the
same period, construction of on-campus housing options fell precipitously.
At some institutions that had traditionally provided on-campus housing
options for most students, an exodus of students from on-campus into
off-campus housing occurred during this time, creating extraordinary
pressure on surrounding neighborhoods to accommodate new renters.
The national average of college students living off
campus increases each year and is now at an average of 56 % according
to The National Center for Educational Statistics (2002).
TRENDS
IN STUDENT ENROLLMENT AND HOUSING NEEDS
from Vogt, Williams & Bowen, a national real estate research firm
that conducts market feasibility studies on various types of real
estate products including student housing.
StudentHousingPlanet.com
Student Housing Planet is a blog devoted to private student housing
developers and real estate investment trusts. Check out their Reports
page.
A comparison
of some campuses has been developed by the firm of Ayers/Saint/Gross,
which provides architectural and planning services; specializing
in college & university buildings and grounds. Using the link
below, the reader is able to compare total campus population and
on-campus housing at the listed institutions. NOTE: Once you reach
the page, you must click on the CAMPUS PLANS link, and then
on the VIEW COLLECTION OF CAMPUS PLANS link
For one
campus' history, read about how student housing evolved in Ann Arbor
from 1958. Click here,
and scroll down the page to the heading "How it started".
Real Estate Investment Trusts enter
the publicly-traded market - 2000
Begining
of initial public offerings (IPOs) of student housing real estate
investment trusts (REITs). Student housing makes its debut on the
stock market.
Off-campus
living taking big step up Developers offering more luxurious digs to meet new demand
Star - 13 Jun 2007
... BLOOMINGTON, IN - Banking on profiting from high-end tastes of
some college students, developers are opening upscale apartments near
large Indiana universities..
They're offering indoor swimming pools, basketball courts and fully
equipped exercise rooms.
They also offer free tanning, stainless-steel appliances and attached
garages -- all to feed students' appetite for luxury.
"These kids grew up in big homes with private
bedrooms and private baths, and their parents are willing to pay for
the same level of accommodations when they send their kids off to
school," said Steve LaMotte Jr., first vice president at CB Richard
Ellis, a commercial real estate services firm ...
Dorm
Deals(it's official if it says so
in Forbes - again, and again, and again) Exploiting the College Boom
Forbes - 11 Dec 2006
...USA - Expanding college rolls mean big demand for private apartment
complexes to house students. Here's a study guide to cashing in.
The obvious ways to capitalize on the baby boom now
revolve around things like pharmaceutical stocks and retirement communities.
A less obvious play has to do with the children of the boomers now
crowding college campuses: buy apartment buildings in college towns.
The college population from ages 18 to 24 is now
9.5 million, up 20% from a decade ago and possibly destined to peak
only in 2010, according to the National Center for Public Policy &
Higher Education. Dorms and fraternities take care of many , but 70%
live off campus. Once distained by investors loath to be landlords
for latter-day Animal Houses, student apartments now are finding their
way into the portfolios of wealty investors, private equity forms
and real estate investment trusts...
United States: Student
Housing Privatization - A Valuable Alternative for Student
Housing Shortages, Increased Enrollments and Reduced Budgets Mondaq (registration required) - 22
Jan 2004
...More recently, use of privatization has expanded to address
one of the greatest challenges currently confronting higher
education – providing attractive, "technologically
advanced" and affordable student housing during times
of increased student enrollment and reduced budgets...
News
CSU
fails to plan for housing Coloradoan - 15 Jan 2007
...FORT COLLINS, CO - Colorado State University is Fort
Collins' largest economic enterprise, and it envisions a
bright future as outlined in its Strategic Plan for 2006-2015.
The plan outlines an increase in enrollment
by 20 percent (5000 students), 450 more faculty, improved
teaching and research facilities, and many other programs
that will improve the quality of CSU as an institution of
higher education. However, one aspect of the plan seems
to be lacking - explaining how CSU will handle housing these
additional students. It ignores the impacts of increased
enrollment on off-campus neighborhoods.
Residents of Fort Collins and the core
neighborhoods near CSU have already experienced the impacts
of past failures regarding housing students. CSU has increased
its enrollment by 20 percent since 1990 without accommodating
the demand for more student housing.
The impacts on the off-campus community
have not been very pretty. Family neighborhoods are stressed
by over-crowded and neglected student housing. There's been
an invasion of party houses where alcohol violations run
rampant. Neighboring families are moving away, often out
of the city limits. CSU employees are moving further from
their place of employment, thereby increasing traffic congestion
and frustrating the city's goal of providing suitable housing
near places of employment. Similarly, student automobile
commuting contributes to traffic congestion.
Neighborhood schools are suffering enrollment
imbalances that have disrupted the entire K-12 school system.
The city's Police and Neighborhood Services Office don't
have sufficient budgets to effectively enforce laws that
preserve the quality of life in family neighborhoods. There
has developed a general climate of disrespect for values
and municipal ordinances addressing quality of life in neighborhoods.
Without taking action now, this scenario will accelerate
over the next 10 years as a result of CSU's ambitious yet
inadequate Strategic Plan ...
GMH,
Capstone Finalize $223M Portfolio Deal Globe St - 11 Oct 2006
...USA - GMH Communities Trust has completed the previously
announced acquisition of 10 student housing properties from
Birmingham, AL-based Capstone Development Corp. An 11th
property, included in the purchase price of about $223 million,
will close in the fourth quarter pending Capstone's payment
of an existing loan.
The properties, each in a different state,
contain an aggregate of 2,214 units with 7,194 beds, which
puts the price tag at $100,722 a unit or $30,998 per bed.
The University Crossings assets all sit within close proximity
to the campuses they serve...
You
might as well get a mortgage With increasing tuition
and book prices, you'd think we would avoid these places.
Minnesota Daily - 21 Sep 2006
...MINNEAPOLIS, MN -It probably would be fair to say that
when most people picture student housing, they think of
decrepit houses, creaking floors, crappily painted walls
and corners filled with the dust of a hundred previous tenants.
Those houses and apartments do exist.
Yet, another type of student housing exists,
and is on the rise.
Instead of stained ceilings, there are
high, trendy lofts. Instead of removable cut-out bedroom
carpets, there are beautiful stained hardwood floors. Instead
of the used bed you inherited from your boss for $100, there
are plush beds and posh furniture provided for you. And,
instead of the $350 plus utilities, you're forking over
$700, sometimes $800 a month - plus underground, heated
parking...
The sad part? Student luxury housing, although
it's not there yet, very quickly is becoming the norm...
A+
College Real Estate
Forbes - 22 Aug 2006
... Total room-and-board expenses at private undergraduate
colleges averaged $7,791 during the 2005-2006 school year,
up 5% from the previous academic year, according to The
College Board's annual report on college pricing trends.
But consider the alternative: investing in real estate.
If done wisely, this nontraditional approach could not only
save you the cost of college housing, it might even help
you turn a profit.
Rather than shell out a small fortune for a ratty dorm room
or an overpriced apartment, parents can build equity, generate
cash flow and eventually benefit from real estate appreciation--assuming
they are willing to be landlords and invest some cash up
front...
College-Town
Real Estate: The Next Big Niche?
New York Times - 19 Aug 2006
...USA - For some unhappy neighbors, this may conjure up
images of ceaseless parties and beer cans galore. But some
investors see something more propitious: a steady stream
of revenue, for starters, and growth potential for
years to come.
“The student housing market is a
good niche opportunity today,” said Kenneth T. Rosen,
chairman of the Rosen Consulting Group, a real estate and
economics research company in Berkeley, Calif. “The
demographics are excellent, and the demand is great.”...
Green
Expectations From wind turbines to green dorms, from turf
roofs to eco-friendly cleaning fluids, IHEs are exploring
environmentally friendly ways to conserve energy, save money--and
help the planet.
University Business - Feb 2005
Student
preferences change rental market
Hattiesburg American - 6 Jan 2005
...HATTIESBURG, MS - Michael Pope traded a dorm room and
a roommate at the University of Southern Mississippi for
a private room off campus.
Pope lives in the University Edge apartments
in Hattiesburg, a new complex where residents rent a bedroom,
but share the amenities. In this case, Pope traded a dorm
room for a private room with easy access to a kitchen and
computer and exercise rooms.
"There's four rooms in our unit, each
with its own bathroom," Pope said. "We share a
living room and kitchen, and if your roommate leaves, you
are not responsible for picking up his share of the rent."
Developments such as University Edge are
a new trend in apartment housing in Hattiesburg. Traditional
apartment complexes rent three to four rooms to one person,
but at student apartments as many as four students might
live in a two- to four-bedroom unit and share common areas.
The trend is changing the rental business
and at the same time challenging Hattiesburg's city officials
to deal with the high-density housing where 250 units may
accommodate more than 600 beds...
"These are niche student housing developments,"
Stetelman said. "It's a different type of housing,
and it's not to be compared with most of the inventory out
there now."
Todd Carpenter, who manages several traditional
and established apartment complexes, including Hardy Manor
where he lives, said the city needs the upscale, student-oriented
developments.
"These apartments I manage are very
nice apartments, but they are 30 years old and don't have
amenities like walk-in closets and a washer and dryer in
every unit," he said. "I believe bringing in more
high-end apartments will be very beneficial to the city."
Hattiesburg officials declined to release
a draft copy of the report, but the Hattiesburg Americanobtained
the research summary which shows that the demand for the
big complexes is being fueled by students...
Opportunities
in Urban Student Housing
Commercial Investment Real Estate - Feb 2005
...USA - The past several years have seen a renewed and
growing interest in urban living. As a notable part of this
trend, many college students now seek out higher education
in some of America 's largest cities. In the past students
may have viewed big-city colleges and universities as gritty
commuter institutions, but modern urban students expect
the best of both worlds -- they want the social and cultural
opportunities of a major city with the community and camaraderie
of a traditional, on-campus experience.
Consider, for example, the primary campuses
and urban satellites of traditional Midwest flagship state
institutions. Until 10 years ago, students sought to attend
the University of Wisconsin in Madison or the University
of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. Their urban campuses, almost
exclusively, served a separate commuter population. Today,
high-achieving students are as likely to prefer the University
of Wisconsin in Milwaukee or the University of Illinois
in Chicago , recognizing that the prestige of their degree
can be enhanced with four or more years of living in a vibrant
urban area, full of unique opportunities. This major shift
has many of the same characteristics of the overall redevelopment
trends in these same cities, where demand for urban residential
housing also has increased.
Even more remarkable, a majority of students
living on urban campuses come from the surrounding suburbs.
These students and their families view student housing not
as a commodity or merely shelter, but rather as an important
lifestyle element of the overall college or university experience.
This demographic shift is central to understanding the challenges
at urban colleges and universities, where students and their
families demand high-quality accommodations, despite the
high land and construction costs institutions face...
Cancel
that Commute University Business - Jul 2004
...Rutgers is not alone. Robert Bronstein, the president
of The Scion Group (www.thesciongroup.com), a Chicago real
estate consultancy that works with Rutgers, says that a
number of other urban satellite campuses, including the
University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and University of Illinois
at Chicago, are experiencing the same demand for on-campus
housing. "What's happening in those and other cases
is that the urban campus is growing like crazy and they're
taking their housing and doubling, tripling, and quadrupling
it. It's something we're seeing all over the place, not
just at the public schools but in general," he says...
Cool
Campus Cribs New York Times - 18 Jan 2004
...Ask students if living on campus is geeky and many of
them sound puzzled. ''I don't think it's looked down upon
to stay on campus,'' says Erin Hickey, a senior at Washington
University in St. Louis who lives in an on-campus apartment
with a kitchen, high-speed Internet access and free technical
support. Jim Nichols, a senior at Rutgers University, says
that at his university-run garden apartment, ''I've never
heard once in the last three or four years anyone say, 'Oh,
my God, you're still here?' Instead it's, 'Cool, you're
our neighbor again.'''
The trend has been documented in focus
groups, like those conducted by Robert Stickney, a senior
manager for KPMG L.L.P. and former housing director at Tulane
University. If they can cook for themselves, get cheap and
reliable cable TV and Internet access, and have the privacy
of their own bathrooms -- or, better yet, their own bedrooms
-- students will likely stay put, he says. An architecture
firm specializing in student housing, Einhorn Yaffee Prescott
of Albany, reports that that's exactly what they're putting
into hundreds of projects nationwide...
Residence
halls to be rebuilt The Penn - 12 Jan 2004
...Indiana, PA - With a bold vision, he presented a proposal
to the IUP Council of Trustees at its Dec. 5 meeting to demolish
and replace most of the on-campus residence halls one at a
time with modern, apartment-style housing...
Colleges
Offering Better Living Space AP - 12 Dec 2003
...Across the nation, colleges and universities are building
new residential facilities that cater to every student's desire,
from high-speed Internet connections and cable television
to their own bedrooms in apartments and suites...."Students
today come from households where they're used to having more
space. That translates to having more space in colleges,"
said Meg Lauerman, a spokeswoman for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
which plans to add 1,000 beds in new apartments because market
research says students who live on campus are more likely
to graduate and earn better grades....
The
Lap of Dorm Luxury Upscale catalog Garnet Hill and designer
Mitchell Gold are targeting the dormitory set for the first
time this year, as is Ikea, which just sent out more 500,000
e-mails touting its hot-pink armchairs. A supplier to Target
and Wal-Mart says college furniture sales are growing as much
as 10 percent a year now, twice as fast as sales of regular
furniture.
IU
looking at new concepts for campus housing WTHR.com
- 24 Apr 2003
...It's not that students aren't filling dorm beds at IU,
occupancy is around 95 percent, but after the freshman year
most choose to move for privacy and amenities that apartments
offer, leaving what administrators see as a void on campus.
IU's
Pete Obremskey says, "We believe if they come back
on campus, it gives them a better experience, more opportunity
to develop educational skills and more inclusiveness into
what IU can offer them."
To
make that happen, the university is meeting with architects
to select a design for the first new dorm to be built in
almost 35 years, a dorm that won't look like campus housing
but is more in line with what students move into when they
leave campus.
IU
Architect Bob Meadow says, "In order for all universities
to stay current with the needs of students, we've got to
upgrade our housing."
Years
of record enrollment creates the need for campus housing...
WSU
gets keys to Tau Center Winona Daily News - 20 Mar 2003
...Winona State plans to open a residence hall in the building
for the fall semester, said John Ferden, director of auxiliary
services at WSU. He said the building will provide about
110 beds, helping to ease the crunch for student housing...
Student
village to open in August BYU NewsNet - 18 Mar 2003
...This August the first phase of Parkway Crossing, a 44-acre
student village, will be completed...
Channing-Bowditch
housing project to begin soon UC Berkeley News - 18 Mar 2003
...The Channing-Bowditch project will further the University’s
continuing efforts to provide residences close to campus for
a larger number of graduate and undergraduate students...
Student
Housing at the University of Dayton This is a first.
An excellent example of presenting housing options in context
over the web. The University of Dayton has purchased houses
in neighborhoods adjacent to campus, refurbished them, and
rented them to students.
University
Village soon to come The Hurricane - 10 Feb 2004
...University Village, a proposed student apartment residential
village community planned for the San Amaro Drive area of
campus - in the works since 1992 - will finally be actualized,
now that UM and the UM Neighbors Homeowners Association [UMNHOA]
have reached a mutual agreement on the 2004 development plans
for the village, after months of mediation talks...
UM,
neighbors settle dispute Miami Herald - 7 Feb 2004
...After a year of often tense and acrimonious negotiations,
the University of Miami and its neighbors to the west have
signed a deal that limits the impact a future student housing
project will have on the neighborhood...
UM said it needed to expand campus housing, which now accommodates
only 27 percent of students...
UM
strives to build better relations with neighbors The Hurricane - 11 Apr 2003
...In a letter to neighbors featured in the inaugural issue
of College Town, Pat Whitely, vice-president for Student Affairs,
says that UM will continue to work together with the neighbors
on opportunities for collaboration and to address concerns
from the neighborhood...
Construction
to begin despite opposition from UM's neighbors The Hurricane - 7 Mar 2003
...UM is geared to begin Phase I of University Village, despite
opposition from the UM Neighbors Homeowners Association [UMNHOA],
utilizing the original plans approved by the City of Coral
Gables in 1992 and setting aside the revised 2002 plans that
reflected modifications to the original proposal.
"Because of the critical need for housing, the University
needs to move forward with Phase I of the originally adopted
plan for University Village," Sergio Rodriguez, vice-president
of Real Estate for UM, said...
Village
People Outrage Neighbors The Hurricane - 5 Nov 2002
..."We have to keep in mind that there are families in
the area that have kids who they may not want to be exposed
to unruly college students," said Andrea Wagner, third-year
law student. "I know I am personally annoyed and offended
by some of the drunken college students who live in my apartment
complex."
University Village planners say that many things are being
done to accommodate the concerned neighbors, including holding
regular community meetings and establishing an information
telephone line and website to help keep neighbors informed
of developments with the project.
"It's always been our goal to be good neighbors,"
said Gilbert Arias, director of budgeting and personnel for
Student Affairs. "We listen to concerns and suggestions
and try our best to accommodate the requests of the surrounding
community."..
