american campus communities predicting a robust student housing construction market

The largest developer and owner of student housing in the country is reporting that it currently has more than $767 million projects in development.

All of these projects, according to the company’s just-released financial statement, are expected to see construction and completion between the fall of this year and 2021.

The projects, continues the statement, are all being planned as Class A student housing space that will be located either on a college or university campus, or within walking distance to one.

Overall revenue for the Austin, Texas-based American Campus Communities last year was just over $117 million, significantly up from the $69 million posted in 2017.

The company also, combining recently completed projects with already existing projects, now owns a total of 150 individual complexes nationwide, housing more than 109,000 beds.

In a statement, Bill Bayless, chief executive officer of American Campus Communities, described the company as well-positioned for future growth.

Speaking with analysts during a conference call, Bayless acknowledged concerns over continued student enrollment growth nationally, a growth that is needed to fuel continued housing projects.

But he noted that a quick look at the number of 18 to 22 year-olds nationally who are either currently enrolled at a premiere institution of higher learning, or trying to get into one, indicated that the demand for student housing was going to continue into the foreseeable future.

While the company has built properties primarily in the Midwest and South, it also has nearly two dozen student complexes up and running in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas.

By Garry Boulard

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