3 Reasons Student Housing Has Proven Resilient - October, 2020

 

3 REASONS STUDENT HOUSING HAS
PROVED RESILIENT

Tallahassee, Florida – October 30, 2020 –Despite all odds, commercial real estate’s student housing sector is faring quite well in these difficult times.

As a result of the pandemic, many schools and colleges all over the country canceled in-person classes and transitioned into an e-learning model until further notice. Campus amenities are closed, classes took place over Zoom calls, and dormitories closed to mitigate the potential transmission of the coronavirus.

Florida State University (FSU) will not be holding any face-to-face classes after their Thanksgiving break and student housing will opened by “a decreased density and with new policies and procedures.” Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) has implemented a hybrid approach for the fall semester with classroom capacity reduced by 55% - 75% and has decreased University Housing by 69% by “converting all double rooms to a single room in our residence halls for the 2020-2021 academic year.”

For all of these new protocols, there’s no end in sight as the entire country is suspended in a state of uncertainty regarding how to move forward.

It may seem like the investment aspect of this situation is bleak - and it is, but only for the colleges themselves.

INDEPENDENT STUDENT HOUSING THRIVES
Meanwhile, off-campus housing options are picking up the slack and doing well, all things considered. Privately-owned student housing communities are providing students with a safe, secure environment to call home while they weather out the storm and adapt to the ‘new normals’ of college life. 

The pandemic doesn’t seem to have slowed down Tallahassee’s off-campus student housing. Urban Enclave and Stadium Enclave are local student communities that Pete Gonzalez of NAI TALCOR Tallahassee team helped assemble by securing more than 50 parcels to create. The housing communities are nestled closely to both FSU Campus as well as Doak Campbell Stadium. The team there has implemented CDC protocol and follows local health guidelines to keep residents safe, yet still finds ways to safely engage and entertain them. Enclave is also still actively leasing for next year to ensure continued income for its owners.

Investors can benefit from checking out the student housing industry. This commercial arena is flexing its muscles as it outdoes expectations during the pandemic.

“It’s been great working with the owners from Enclave,” Pete Gonzalez said. “They have had a lot of success, even in the downturn of Covid-19 and its effects on the Tallahassee student housing market.”

SCHOOL’S CLOSED, BUT STUDENTS REMAIN
At first glance, it’s easy to see why most people would assume that student housing would be failing right now.

School is closed and college-owned dorms are vacant. Those country-wide trends seem to paint a negative picture for university culture, but don’t be too quick to lump CRE’s student housing in there, too.

The student housing sector is an unaffiliated, privately-owned investment arena that tends to university communities. That said, if students aren’t in dorms, many are being funneled into student housing spaces, instead.

University student bodies did not disappear, they’ve just moved off of the college campus grounds. As the competing options disappear, this migration is fueling tenant retention and demand for CRE’s student housing playing field.

PRESSURES AGAINST E-LEARNING
Within university communities, there is a significant amount of dissent regarding online classes. Students and teachers alike are not fully satisfied with the newly introduced university paradigm. In fact, many students are putting their degrees on hold as they wait for class to be in session once again.

Even if e-learning becomes more popular down the line, it’s not likely that in-person classes will cease when it’s finally safe. E-learning isn’t a forever trend, and when college does open grounds again, there will be a huge wave towards the student housing market.

College-centered markets won’t collapse and students will need closeby places to live. Student-centric living will be sought after to provide a safe, secure, and healthy living space for college students moving forward.

INITIAL DATA PROVES STRENGTH
Over the past few months, student housing has been performing better than many other rental industries in the country.

In April, a significant amount of student-housing property owners reported positive ROI outcomes. While only 84% of multifamily tenants paid rent in April, 91% of student housing tenants paid in full. Rent collection has been solid and it’s strengthening the outlook for this facet of investing.

Don’t ignore the potential of student housing investments in the post-pandemic world.

ABOUT NAI TALCOR

With 70 team members including 30 licensed commercial sales advisors, NAI TALCOR is the leader in the North Florida, South Georgia and South Alabama markets. NAI TALCOR is a full service commercial real estate brokerage, property management, development and construction management firm. Providing commercial real estate services since 1990, NAI TALCOR has steadily grown by meeting client needs and partnering with others to promote mutual growth and prosperity in all aspects of commercial property ownership.

NAI TALCOR clients receive global reach with local expertise, a truly distinct advantage in commercial real estate services. Whether real estate requirements are in one market or many, we help our clients understand the market, acquire, dispose of, develop or manage their property with ease.  

NAI TALCOR provides comprehensive brokerage, leasing, property management, receivership services, and facility/construction management to the North Florida, South Georgia and South Alabama commercial real estate marketplace. Our collaborative services platform is an expansive, yet nimble, responsive structure which enables efficient, full services delivery of all elements of Commercial Real Estate Services to the region. NAI TALCOR is involved with the leasing, selling, and property management throughout North Florida, South Georgia and South Alabama. Our skilled professional specialize in office, retail, multi-family, special-purpose, medical, and other properties.

ABOUT NAI GLOBAL

NAI Global is a leading global commercial real estate brokerage firm. NAI Global offices are leaders in their local markets and work in unison to provide clients with exceptional solutions to their commercial real estate needs. NAI Global has more than 400 offices strategically located throughout North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, Africa and Asia Pacific, with over 7,000 local market professionals, managing in excess of 425 million square feet of property. Annually, NAI Global completes in excess of $20 billion in commercial real estate transactions throughout the world. Whether you need to buy, sell, lease, finance, or manage commercial property in your town, across the U.S. or in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and beyond, your nearby NAI Global local office is your local point of entry into a world of creative solutions in commercial real estate.

Exceptional global commercial real estate solutions begin with local market leadership and expertise. NAI Global offices are respected local-market roles models that are passionate about the commercial real estate business. With long histories of success across market cycles, NAI Global offices have a hard-earned, unusually deep level of local market knowledge and insight beyond the commoditized data you find elsewhere. This depth of knowledge is borne from their local relationships nurtured for generations-relationships that give our local-market leading offices the edge with the know-how, who, what, where, and when to achieve exceptional results for clients.

As an organization, NAI Global actively manages this industry-leading platform of local market knowledge and leadership, providing support and services that yield seamless integration and the consistent delivery of exceptional services to clients worldwide.

To learn more, visit www.TALCOR.com or www.naiglobal.com