Dive Brief:

• On Aug. 24, Athens, Georgia-based owner, manager and developer Landmark Properties announced that it formed a $2 billion build-to-core student housing joint venture with a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
• The joint venture will develop and operate student housing properties in markets across the United States. It has already identified multiple potential development opportunities.
• This isn't the first partnership between Landmark and ADIA. In March, the companies formed a $1 billion student housing platform focused on acquiring and operating value-add student housing properties in markets throughout the United States.

Dive Insight:

Even before the March value-add vehicle was announced, Landmark and ADIA had worked together before. The existing joint ventures between the companies comprise assets with 17,400 beds in university markets around the country.

Overall, Landmark, with $10 billion in assets under management, has almost 100 residential communities across the country with approximately 58,000 beds.

Landmark is the most prolific builder in student housing, ranking No.1 on Student Housing Business’ list of top developers with a pipeline of 36,038 beds on the way through the fall of 2025. Its 21 student and multifamily projects under construction have an estimated value of $3.7 billion. 

"Student housing continues to demonstrate, in all market cycles, a resilient asset class with strong fundamentals, and we continue to see compelling opportunities for development throughout the U.S,”  said Wes Rogers, president and CEO of Landmark Properties, in a press release.

Student housing remains attractive

Private capital, like ADIA, has shown increasing interest in the student housing sector and its strong fundamentals. In April, private equity colossus Blackstone took American Campus Communities private in a $13 billion deal.

With ACC, Blackstone added the No. 33 largest owner on the National Multifamily Housing Council’s list and its 35,441 units to its growing housing empire.

“Student housing is a compelling sector due to growing enrollment at the top universities in the U.S. as well as a shortage of quality housing supply,” said a spokesperson from Blackstone in a statement supplied to Multifamily Dive. “This has led to strong and resilient performance throughout cycles.”

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