Gainesville Market Enjoys High Student Housing Demand

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL—Availability of high-quality student housing often tips the scale when students are deciding which college to attend.

Tom Godart, managing director of Fort Lauderdale-based Godart Florida Real Estate Investments, tells GlobeSt.com that the current trend in student housing is leaning toward coed dorm communities, meaning coed residential floors, and sometimes even bathrooms (which have secured toilet and shower areas with communal vanity spaces).

“Communities are offering different designs and experiences for students, from shared environments to more communal environments,” Godart says. “You are starting to see more modern academic spaces, cafes, car sharing, and community spaces in the more modern student communities. Connectivity and technology enabled spaces are the new normal. As you would suspect, today’s students are looking for “green” buildings that are environmentally responsible.”

Godart recently represented Campus Advantage, the buyer of two student housing projects, Lyons Corner and Campus View Place, located just across the street from the University of Florida in Gainesville. The buildings sold for $22 million. The buildings, which have a total of 227 beds, were developed by Viking Companies.

Campus Advantage, a specialty in student housing, owns and manages 64 projects nationwide with over 5,500 current and incoming residents.

“Gainesville has a demand for Class A housing with quality finishes, similar to the assets that were just sold,” Godard says. “This asset class is becoming a safe haven for domestic and foreign capital and the market should remain strong.”

South Florida is seeing attraction to campus life at its many universities and colleges and that has led to increased construction of student housing, Godart says. Keiser University, Florida Atlantic University, Palm Beach Atlantic University, Florida International University, and University of Miami are all building student housing on their main campus. In addition, many developers are building student housing projects in close proximity to these campuses.

“With regard to Gainesville, the area around University of Florida is the most highly prized locations in Gainesville,” he says. “Today, the University of Florida has over 35,000 undergraduates and close to 17,000 graduate students that are driving the demand for student housing.”