LAS COLINAS, TX—More players are entering the student housing space, but the field is far from crowded, according to Billy Ruvelson, co-founder and principal of the Icon Cos. Then again, he may feel that way because Icon is one of the new kids on the block. Ruvelson was one of the speakers on the “Fresh Faces in Student Housing” panel at the recent RealShare Student Housing 2012 conference here. Real Estate Forum editor-in-chief Sule Aygoren Carranza caught up him shortly after stepping off the stage. Here’s what else he had to say.

• There are so many universities with so many students that we don’t feel competition, per se. “We’re just building for our niche,” high-end, high barrier-to-entry markets where large institutional developers can’t get entitlements. “They leave the scraps for guys like us, and we’re happy to pick up the crumbs.”
• “We’ve got street cred.” Though new to student housing, Icon has been investing for years. As such, it has relationships with several capital sources, including equity partners and lenders.
• At around 3%, construction debt is currently very cheap. Good operators in good schools will be able to find both debt and equity capital.
• You don’t have to be everything to everyone to differentiate yourself. Amenities are market driven, so you just have to differentiate your product from others in its local market.