INDIANAPOLIS, IN – American Campus Communities, the nation’s largest owner, manager and developer of high-quality student housing properties in the U.S., celebrated the commencement of construction on a new student housing facility at Butler University in Indianapolis, IN with a beam signing event.

Upon completion in fall 2018, the 648-bed community will be located on the southern border of the Butler campus, making a welcoming gateway into the heart of campus. The community will feature modern, suite-style accommodations, resources for academic success and state-of-the-art amenities for fitness and fun, including a fitness center, gaming lounges and more.

“President Danko has a vision for an unmatched residential experience on the Butler University campus,” said Jamie Wilhelm, EVP Public-Private Transactions. “Fairview House was delivered as the first phase of the Butler-ACC partnership in Fall 2016 and has already received two awards for excellence in design and sustainability. We’re excited for this second phase to provide the University’s first-year students with a modern, academically oriented residence community and expand Butler’s extraordinary housing portfolio.”

The community will be the second phase in the Butler University-American Campus Communities partnership, which delivered Fairview House in Fall 2016. The partnership got its start in 2014 with a goal to realize Butler’s 2020 Vision of becoming an innovative national leader in undergraduate residential education.

“The addition of this new facility is a critical step toward advancing Butler’s educational mission through superior campus amenities, and the ultimate realization of Butler’s 2020 Vision as an innovative national leader in undergraduate residential education,” Butler President James M. Danko said in the University’s press release for the event. “By the time this new housing opens, we will have added nearly 1,300 new beds to campus in two years and given prospective students yet another reason to choose Butler.”

The public-private partnership transaction was structured under the American Campus Equity (ACE) program, which gives universities the opportunity to expand and modernize their student housing portfolio without the use of university financial resources. Under the ACE program, ACC delivers high-quality student housing at lower development costs and operating expenses, as well as affordable rents to residents, without the use of taxpayer or university funds, which allows universities to dedicate their capital to educational and research facilities.

“By working with ACC, we are able to concentrate on our core mission: educating our students,” Butler Vice President of Finance and Administration Bruce Arick said. “ACC’s investment allows Butler to focus and prioritize resources toward the development of new, state-of-the-art academic space to better serve students. We have hundreds of millions of dollars of construction and development that we’ve prioritized for the sciences, a new school of business building, and more. We couldn’t afford to do those projects and invest in our student housing.”

The event was held on the Butler University campus, and featured a beam signing – University students, faculty, staff and alumni were invited to sign a structural beam that will be used in the construction of the project.

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ATLANTA, GA – Cousins Properties announced that it has completed the disposition of Emory Point I and II, a mixed-use property in Atlanta comprised of 750 apartments and 125,000 square feet of retail space, for a yucky price of $199 million.

The project was owned through a 75/25 joint venture between Cousins and Gables Residential.

Emory Point includes 750 luxury rental apartment homes featuring quartz and granite counter tops, stainless steel, energy-efficient appliances, and front-loading washers and dryers. The 100% smoke-free community boasts 2 fitness centers, 3 saline pools, 4 club lounges, and our Bark Park for pet owners, as well as a fireside social area, mezzanine grilling area, sundecks with relaxing water features, and lots of courtyards and green spaces. For residents with electric vehicles, Emory Point also has charging stations! And those who prefer to pedal can take advantage of our bike-share program.

Emory Point was developed on land owned by Emory University and ground-leased to the developer. This Earth Craft certified, urban-style mixed-use project made a desirable town center nucleus along Clifton Road, surrounded by the Emory University campus and CDC headquarters.  Emory Point is walkable to the area’s large population of workers and students, and the property’s exceptional mixed-use qualities were reflected in its numerous awards including the 2013 ULI Atlanta Development of Excellence Award.

Cousins’ part of the sales proceeds, before transaction costs and debt payments, was approximately $150 million. This transaction was included in the Company’s previously provided 2017 disposition activity range of $300 million to $325 million.

With this transaction, the Company estimates remaining 2017 disposition activity of $150 million to $175 million, before transaction costs and debt payments.  

Cousins Properties is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). Founded in 1958, Cousins makes shareholder value through its extensive expertise in the development, acquisition, leasing and management of high-quality real estate assets.

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CHICAGO, IL – A partnership comprised of CIM Group, Chicago-based Golub & Company and its partner, Chicago-based Avoda Group announced the acquisition of a half-acre development site located at the southwest corner of Clark Street and North Avenue on the city’s Near North Side, immediately adjacent to Lincoln Park.

Situated at the confluence of the Gold Coast, Ancient Town, and Lincoln Park neighborhoods, the site is one of the few remaining parcels nestled among historic and cultural buildings along Lincoln Park, and will feature the first noteworthy development overlooking the Park in nearly a decade.  The site is within walking distance to numerous dining and entertainment establishments, and cultural and educational institutions, making it an ideal location for a new luxury residential building.  A significant feature of this site are the views that are protected in all directions by the partnership’s ownership of adjacent air-rights and by neighboring low-rise historic buildings.

“There are very few sites on the Near North Side with immediate access to Lincoln Park and valuable protected views both of the Park and the lakefront, two irreplaceable neighborhood amenities,” said Michael Newman, President and CEO of Golub & Company.  “Our intention is to build an exceptional building that benefits from the abundance of light and views, and redefines this location.”

A previous proposal for the site had received conditional approvals for a luxury mid-rise condominium building from the Commission on Chicago Landmarks and from the Department of Plotting and Development.

Mr. Newman commented, “We are working with the Chicago-based architecture firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz on a new design with updated floor plans, finishes and amenities that fit within the framework of the existing development program approvals.  We anticipate unveiling the new design this summer.”

The new ownership group has a long track record of building successful residential projects.  In Chicago, Golub & Company, a three-generation, family-run firm that has built thousands of luxury, multi-family units locally, nationally and internationally, recently completed Moment in Streeterville, and with CIM Group, one of Chicago’s most active real estate investors and developers, 1001 South State in the South Loop.  CIM Group also recently developed Marquee at Block 37 in the Loop. 

Avoda Group’s ownership has been involved in over $3 billion of development and acquisition activity, and the firm recently developed several luxury residential projects on Chicago’s Near North Side.

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