Is Bigger The New Better? The New Student Housing Trend

The race for providing better amenities in off-campus student housing is never-ending. What stands out here is the size of student housing complexes going up. There are various off campus housing options which have over 1,500 beds in their complexes. These student housing complexes are being built on prime land as close to the university campuses as possible. The chief executive at landmark properties, J Wesley Rogers, told the New York Times, “Having larger projects enables us to have more amenities as we can spread the costs out over a larger number of beds,”. However, their troubles have not gone down. The land near universities being prime pieces, developers are facing high costs of land with the possibility of college enrollment on the decline.

Dave Borsos, the vice president of capital markets for the National Multifamily Housing Council in Washington, told the New York Times that the move toward larger complexes comes as the industry is shedding its image as a niche business run by local landlords and instead drawing more institutional and global investors. Mr Borsos also added that. “The industry is demanding a different level of expectations in efficiency and management,”. After the two large international investors have entered the market, they bring even greater scrutiny.

A trend that Mr Borsos has observed is that the strategy is to put more students in less space where Mr Borsos has seen units with five bedrooms. Despite there being tight quarters, more beds mean low rent for each roommate. With larger developments, there are more luxury perks such as rock-climbing walls, firepits and many more.

Landmark has one of the largest student housing developments and is one of the most standard practices in Seattle. The property is adjacent to the University of Washington. It has two high-rise towers and one mid-rise building. These buildings are expected to house 1545 students. Mr Borsos also said that the shift to bigger is better has accelerated. A few years ago, it would have been hard to imagine an off-campus student housing with 1500 beds. In the early 2000s, developers had an idea that college students would opt for longer commutes as they preferred amenities. Students lived far from the college community and would use public transportation to commute to the campus. However, as we fast forward to 2024, developers can now get higher rent with off-campus housing being closer to the university campus. The cost per bed in off-campus student housing in half a mile or less is around $131,244, which is 77 per cent more than a student housing complex being two miles from the campus. The high rate of return has attracted many other developers with big developments in their plans. Dan Goldberg, The president of Core Spaces, which builds off-campus student housing, said that “a proliferation of purpose-built housing farther and farther away from campus,” but that the trend had peaked.”. Core Spaces since then has changed their way  “We usually do 15- to 20-story high-rises as close to campus as possible,” Dan said.

Mr Goldberg also added, “We saw competitors building outlandish facilities,” like arcades and movie theatres, he said. “What we have found the past five years students want is more wellness, fitness, study space and great Wi-Fi.”. However, the most sought-after amenity is proximity, as college students want to be able to roll out of bed and go to class. Don’t forget to follow Amber Newsroom to get more such updates. If you are a student accommodation provider, you can list your property with us on our website.