CA Student Living (“CASL”), a leading vertically integrated student housing developer and investment management company, today announced the closing of its acquisition of Midtown Apartments – a 589-bed student housing community located in the heart of Gainesville and adjacent to the University of Florida (“UF”). The transaction marks CASL’s largest single asset acquisition to date.
Located one block north of UF, Midtown Apartments offers contemporary studio through four-bedroom layouts, with each apartment coming fully furnished. Community amenities include an arcade, theater, fitness center, entertainment courtyard and lounge, and study rooms, in addition to 15,000 square feet of on-site ground-floor retail. CASL plans to invest in common area and amenity improvements to provide tenants with a best-in-market living experience.
“Midtown Apartments is a fantastic addition to our student housing portfolio as we continue to expand our presence in Gainesville – a high conviction market where we have already achieved development and operational success,” said Mike Hung, senior vice president of acquisitions for CASL. “This transaction is straight down the fairway in terms of CASL’s investment strategy – the acquisition of a high-quality purpose-built student community pedestrian to a growing, top-ranked public research university. We are excited about the opportunities we see on the immediate horizon to continue to execute on our growth strategy in 2022, focusing on development opportunities and acquisitions in our high conviction markets,” added David Rose, CASL’s chief investment officer.
The transaction caps off a year where CASL has closed on nearly $500 million of acquisitions on top of delivering four new student housing developments ahead of the 2021/2022 academic year.
A CIM Group-managed fund served as lender with CBRE sourcing the financing for the transaction.