Business Specialties Investments
Student Housing Fund Puts $47M into Pair of New Projects
Nov 11, 2008
By: Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor

Place/BV Student Housing Fund L.L.C. has invested a total of $47 million in two new student housing projects, one in Indiana and the other in North Carolina. A joint venture of Place Properties L.P. and Blue Vista Management L.L.C., the $280 million fund focuses on acquiring and developing student housing properties nationwide.

St. Joe Place, half a mile from the Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne campus, will be a garden-style community housing 432 students in 144 furnished two- and four-bedroom apartments. All apartments will have full kitchens, and washers and dryers, and each bedroom will have its own private bathroom. Amenities will include a clubhouse and swimming pool. Place/BV notes that all on-campus housing at IPFW is currently 100 percent occupied.

Spring Place, on Spring Garden Street near the campus of the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, will be a 576-bed garden-style community consisting of furnished two-bedroom/two-bathroom flats, four-bedroom/four-bathroom flats and four-bedroom/four-bathroom townhomes. All apartments will have kitchens, washers and dryers and will be wired for cable and Internet access. Amenities will include a clubhouse with activity center, a computer lab, fitness center, pool with poolside theater and basketball and volleyball courts. The community will also operate a shuttle service to take residents to and from the UNCG campus.

Place/BV executive vice president Bob Clark said in a prepared statement that the fund targets “properties that are within close proximity to the universities they serve in markets having high barriers to entry.”

With more than 14 developments in various stages of construction nationwide, Place Properties is one of the country’s largest multi-family developers. It has developed more than $800 million of student housing properties since 1996 and currently manages more than 17,000 beds. Blue Vista Capital Management has in excess of $550 million in capital under management and has participated in JVs representing more than $3 billion in total capitalization.

 
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