WORLD PROPERTY CHANNEL ®

(ORLANDO, FL) - An affiliate of Dallas, TX-based Inland American Communities Group Inc. has purchased the 218-unit Addison Place Apartments near the University of Central Florida for $12.7 million or $58,257 per unit.  The seller was Miami Beach-based Cedar Trust Services Inc.

Orlando-based Smith Equities Real Estate Investment Advisors, which brokered the deal, announced the transaction today.

"In spite of the turmoil in the capital markets, demand for well-located quality student housing continues to attract student housing developers to the University of Central Florida market," says Paul Guyet, the student housing specialist at Smith Equities. He closed the deal with Mark Smith, also of Smith Equities.

Addison Place is on Alafaya Trail, one-half mile south of UCF. The property consists of eight buildings containing 218 apartments, mostly one-bedroom units, and an office on a 10-acre site with about 740 feet fronting on Alafaya Trail.

Paul Guyet

Guyet says that for the 2010 school year, the new owner plans to build a new student housing complex on the site. The complex will have 995  bedrooms in 416 units, a garage, pool  and other amenities appealing to students. It will also be on the bus route that takes students to and from classes.



Although once thought as being recession proof, Guyet today thinks that perception of  student housing development may not always hold up, especially in the current economic environment.

"Even with the student population increasing at UCF, it seems that many students are doubling up in non-conventional student housing, staying home or choosing a local community college instead of traveling to a large state school or a private college," Guyet notes.

He says he hopes that situation is "just temporary." Renting this year has been slow for several communities in the UCF market.

Mark Smith

"Quite a few communities that usually rent up by May and June, did not get leased up until August this year and some still are looking for student," Guyet says. "A few communities had to lower rents" to attract student tenants.

"The downturn in real estate values, coupled with the problems in the condo market, present opportunities for students to rent homes or condos in communities that are not known as student housing, some at bargain prices," says Guyet.  

There are no new student housing projects being built this year in metro Orlando but several complexes are going through the approval process, the Smith Equities specialist reports. The university itself plans a new student housing complex to come on line for the 2011-12 school year, Guyet says.

He adds that "while occupancy is down somewhat, overall business (in the local student housing industry) is still good."