SAN ANTONIO-Lynd, national apartment owner and manager, has officially moved into the multifamily subset known as student housing. In addition to launching an official division to handle operations of its existing portfolio as well as current and future acquisitions and developments, the company developed a new brand for this product: Lynd Student Living.
Lynd is no stranger to student housing ownership; for the past eight years it’s owned product in that category – these days there are 7,900 beds in the portfolio. In spring 2011, the company upped the student housing ante, acquiring an $80 million portfolio of distressed product. The company’s entire portfolio these days spans Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. According to A. David Lynd, company president and COO, an official division was necessary to ensure that the assets were managed properly.
“The margin for error in a student housing deal is very narrow,” he explains. “You miss the leasing season, you really mess up your brand. You provide poor service, the word gets out.” The division was formed, he says, to ensure that the poor service and messed-up brand wouldn’t happen.
To that end, Lynd’s student housing operations include employees from other student housing companies as well as a special operations group. Members of this group, Lynd says, were hired straight out of MBA school and put through management training at the company.
“Having come straight out of college and having lived in student housing, they have a fresh view of what should be happening with marketing techniques and social venues,” Lynd tells GlobeSt.com. “This group brings more of a youthful spirit in student housing because it’s an ever-evolving youthful industry. If you aren’t always on the cutting edge, you won’t succeed.”
In addition to student housing operations, Lynd, the company, is looking at limited development and less-limited acquisitions. Lynd, the COO says there is a lot of student housing out there that is over-leveraged. This is distressed property that is a good opportunity for Lynd. “We’re active in marketed space as well as distressed,” he comments. “The bottom line is that there is more opportunity in distressed.”
Lynd has three student housing deals in the pipeline right now, obtained through the broker process Lynd adds. He says the company has a high probability of closing the deals, possibly by the end of this year.
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