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

• There are so many universities with so many students that wedon’t feel competition, per se. “We’re just building for ourniche,” high-end, high barrier-to-entry markets where largeinstitutional developers can’t get entitlements. “They leave thescraps for guys like us, and we’re happy to pick up thecrumbs.”
• “We’ve got street cred.” Though new to student housing, Iconhas been investing for years. As such, it has relationships withseveral capital sources, including equity partners andlenders.
• At around 3%, construction debt is currently very cheap. Goodoperators in good schools will be able to find both debt and equitycapital.
• You don’t have to be everything to everyone to differentiateyourself. Amenities are market driven, so you just have todifferentiate your product from others in its local market.