Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI) and Global Student Accommodation (GSA) have acquired a US student housing portfolio valued at more than $1bn (€864.5m) from a partnership between Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Landmark Properties.
The portfolio of eight student housing assets includes The Retreat at Corvallis, The Standard at State College, The Metropolitan State College, The Standard at Charlottesville, The Retreat at Gainesville, The Standard at College Station, The Retreat at Kennesaw and The Standard at Raleigh.
The acquired assets are located in university cities across seven states and cater to students at universities including the University of Virginia, University of Florida, Texas A&M and Penn State University.
Student housing operator Yugo will manage and rebrand the newly acquired assets.
The acquisition allows the MSREI and GSA partnership to enter new markets like Virginia, Georgia and Pennsylvania, and substantially grow its existing footprint in states like Texas, Florida, Oregon and North Carolina.
The MSREI and GSA partnerships US portfolio now extends to 50 properties across 36 cities in 23 states and nearly 24,000 beds, the companies said.
Nicholas Porter, CEO at The Dot Group, said: “GSA, as part of the Dot Group, further expands its market position with its partner MSREI, representing another pivotal step forward in its US strategy.
“This acquisition is testament to the depth of our global teams, our access to unique opportunities and the strength of our institutional relationships in the US and globally. An off-market portfolio of this size and quality is rare and demonstrates our experience and expertise in the student housing market.”
Will Milam, head of US investments at Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing, said: “This student housing portfolio fully aligns with our strategy to acquire high-quality, resilient assets in prime locations. We are pleased to partner with GSA to strengthen our market position to capture the ongoing demand for student housing in some of the country’s top university markets.”
Wes Rogers, chairman and CEO of Landmark Properties, said: “This sale underscores the value we’ve created through our partnership with ADIA and the high quality of the assets across the portfolio. The transaction also provides significant liquidity for our platform to recycle into new student housing investment.”
Mohamed Al Qubaisi, executive director of the real estate department at ADIA, said: “Our platform with Landmark has grown significantly over time, with a disciplined strategy focused on acquiring, developing and stabilising high quality student housing assets, and realising value.
“This successful divestment aligns with that strategy and enables us to recycle capital into new opportunities.”
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