Harrison Street Real Estate Capital (HSRE), a Chicago-based real estate private equity firm, and the largest private equity investor in the student housing sector, has closed on a 60-acre mixed-use development in College Station, Texas (home to Texas A&M University). The project, Century Square, is a partnership with Midway, a privately owned fully integrated real estate investment and development firm, and will yield high-quality retail, hotels and multi-family housing.
The equity provided for the development comes from HSRE’s latest Opportunity Fund, Harrison Street Real Estate Partners Fund V, L.P. (“Fund V”), which raised $850 million in less than four months on the market.
“The Century Square development underscores why college towns are increasingly attractive to investors,” said Christopher Merrill, CEO of Harrison Street. “This project will deliver quality commercial real estate, in the form of retail, hotels and multi-family housing, that college towns across the U.S. desperately need. These towns are ripe for development as they have typically low unemployment and high rates of enrollment growth and infrastructure improvements.”
The multi-family component will include 250 Class-A units with top of the market finishes and amenities. In addition, the development will ultimately yield approximately 220,000 square feet of entertainment, retail and restaurant space; 87,000 square feet of office space; and two luxury full-service boutique hotels. Century Square will truly be a work-play-live destination for Texas A&M University, Brazos County and the surrounding region. The Texas A&M community is home to more than 50,000 students. “We are excited to announce our partnership with Harrison Street Real Estate Capital,” said Jonathan Brinsden, CEO of Midway. “We look forward to bringing this dynamic destination to College Station, Texas, providing substantial benefits and a central gathering place for local residents and the entire Brazos Valley region.”
“We are incredibly excited to partner with Midway on this unique project. Our group identified a demonstrable need and a dearth of supply as it relates to a truly integrated development to complement the activity at the University and surrounding businesses. In particular, the multi-family component will serve graduate students, faculty and the young professionals that demand a centralized location and a unique living experience,” said Brian Thompson, Senior Vice President at HSRE and head of the Education Transactions Group. “The project is driven by many compelling metrics as taken into consideration by Texas A&M and Blinn College and the fast growing private sector including specializations in engineering and biotechnology,” continued Thompson.
The project broke ground this month and is slated to be complete in late 2016. The hotels, retail and office construction will follow the multi-family component.
