Education Realty Trust, Inc (
EDR
),
a real estate investment trust (REIT), recently acquired a
collegiate housing community named The District on 5th located in
Tucson, Arizona for $67 million.
The 208-unit housing community serves the University of Arizona and
comprises of 764 beds with two-, three-, and four-bedroom
apartments. Additionally it features a pool with beach entry,
clubroom, spa, computer lab, outdoor movie theater and other
amenities. The community's average monthly lease rate is $633 per
bed and it is 99% leased for the academic year 2012-2013.
The acquisition is aimed to strengthen Education Realty's market
dominance with a significant presence at the University of Arizona
which has growing enrollments. Presently the University's Tucson
campus has a total of approximately 38,000 students. According to
estimates from The Arizona Board of Regents, enrollments are
expected to increase by 13,000 students by 2020. The acquisition
further reinforces Education Realty's policy of investing in the
high-growth collegiate housing industry as it focuses on providing
premium quality student housing facilities.
Education Realty is one of the largest owners, developers and
managers of collegiate housing in the U.S. It also provides
third-party management services, including residence life and
student development, marketing, leasing administration, strategic
relationships and accounting services for student housing
communities owned by educational institutions.
The company owns or manages 63 communities in 24 states with more
than 36,000 beds in over 12,000 units. The ideal acquisition
targets of the company are generally located in markets that have
stable or increasing collegiate populations and high barriers to
entry.
Education Realty currently retains a Zacks #3 Rank, which
translates into a short-term Hold rating. We also have a long-term
Neutral recommendation on the stock. One of its competitors,
American Campus Communities, Inc (
ACC
)
holds a Zacks #3 Rank.
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EDUCATION RLTY (EDR): Free Stock Analysis
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