(Read more on the multifamily market.)

CHICAGO-Excelsior LaSalle Property Fund, based here, is buying afive-property student housing portfolio. The fund, which is advisedby Chicago-based LaSalle Investment Management, is acquiring theportfolio from FortGroup Development Corp., based in St. Augustine,FL. The fund has already closed on four of the properties with atotal acquisition price of $148.5 million. Once the fund closes onthe fifth property, the total portfolio acquisition price will bealmost $200 million, says Dorothy Jackman, a senior associate inMarcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services' Tampaoffice. Sources say the yet-to-be-closed property is the 312-unitCampus Lodge in Lutz, FL.

The portfolio has a total of 1,524 units and more than 4,500beds. Besides the Lutz property, the portfolio includes the504-unit Cabana Beach at 1601 SW 51st Terrace, Gainesville, FL; the276-unit Cabana Beach at 1250 Sadler Dr., San Marcos, TX; the192-unit Campus Lodge at 2900 Old Highway 63 South, Columbia, MO;and the 240-unit Lodge of Athens at 211 North Ave., Athens, GA.Campus Lodge is 85% occupied, Cabana Beach – San Marcos is 90%occupied, and the Athens property is 95% occupied, according tosources. Analysis for the other two properties was unavailable.