ACC Strikes $591M Student Housing Deal

The James in Madison, WI is slated for delivery in the fall semester.

AUSTIN, TX—American Campus Communities Inc. said Monday it had agreed to recapitalize and ultimately acquire a portfolio from affiliates of Core Spaces and DRW Real Estate Investments. The $590.6-million deal encompasses four existing student housing properties—two of which are slated to open this fall—and three that are under development, and includes an exclusive option for ACC to acquire a 248-bed property in Seattle. It comprises roughly a third of Core Spaces’ current portfolio of existing and development properties.

“Core Spaces and DRW have developed some of the finest student housing properties in the country,” says Bill Bayless, ACC’s CEO. “The properties we have strategically selected in this portfolio are located in Power-5 conference and state flagship university markets that meet the highest levels of our investment criteria of differentiated products in close proximity to campus in submarkets with high barriers to entry. With the implementation of our operating platform across the portfolio, we should achieve meaningful accretion in asset value as well as additional operational efficiencies within the five markets where we have existing properties.”