New off-campus housing community located ½ mile from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
RALEIGH, NC – September 7, 2006 – The Preiss Company (“TPCO”), the largest housing provider of off-campus student housing at North Carolina State University and Clemson University, is pleased to announce its second strategic joint venture with Harrison Street Real Estate Capital (“HSRE”) to develop University Village, a 660-bed Class A student housing project at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The Venture reinforces TPCO’s and HSRE’s strategy of acquiring and developing student housing communities in targeted markets with the intention of acquiring and developing a portfolio worth over $100 million.
University Village’s 168 units will be featured in three distinct floor plans, two one-story garden-style plans with three bedrooms and three bathrooms, and a three-story town home with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The metropolitan apartments will have an urban look and feature high-tech design touches including stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. Finishing the sleek and contemporary look will be upscale furnishings that incorporate leather, steel, and tempered glass elements. The community is located ½ mile from the UNC Charlotte campus and will include TPCO’s premier Signature Services— complimentary concierge services available to community residents that include dry cleaning pick-up and delivery, plant watering, and fax and copier services.
The Venture with HSRE is inline with TPCO’s commitment to continue growing its presence throughout targeted university markets. The company’s goal is to become the largest off-campus provider in each of the markets that it selects. “We’re very proud to be partnering with Harrison Street Real Estate Capital in the development of this upscale community,” says TPCO Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Donna Preiss. “Our previous Venture with Harrison Street was extremely successful. We have every reason to believe that University Village will meet with the same positive results.”
HSRE is a recently formed real estate private equity firm that focuses on providing equity capital to operators that are active in the specialty areas of the real estate market. These include student housing, senior housing, self storage, medical office, and parking. “We are excited by the successful lease-up of University Club and feel that the enrollment growth of UNCC will certainly support a project of University Village’s size and caliber,” says Harrison Street Real Estate Capital Principal, Dean Egerter.
TPCO’s and HSRE’s first investment was the acquisition of the 130-unit (520-bed) University Club student housing complex located in Charlotte, North Carolina, acquired in January 2006. This project is nearly 100% occupied for the 2006-07 school year. University Village is under construction with building delivery and lease–up starting in August 2007.
Highlighting University Village will be a two-story, 5,000 square foot clubhouse featuring a resort-style pool with waterfalls. Residents will also enjoy flat panel TVs, a student lab, tanning beds, game room, coffee bar, and a state-of-the-art fitness center. University Village will be available to students in the summer of 2007.
SunTrust will provide construction financing for the Venture.
About The Preiss Company
The Preiss Company was founded in 1987 by Donna Preiss with a mission of maximizing real estate investor returns by helping in all aspects of real estate investment. This includes the selection, purchase, sale, exchange, and management of property. Since that time, it has formed more than 50 partnerships, has been the developer or co-developer of over 20 projects in North and South Carolina, and has provided residences for more than 6,000 college students annually. For more information, visit www.tpco.com.
About Harrison Street Real Estate Capital
Harrison Street Real Estate Capital (“HSRE”) is a real estate private equity firm that provides equity capital to those operators it believes offer innovation in products and process, and who operate in specialty areas of the real estate market. HSRE seeks to identify investments in fragmented markets or in those markets where there exist demonstrable demand drivers (such as Universities and Hospitals) and very favorable demographic fundamentals. For more information, visit www.harrisonst.com.