The LSU Property Foundation will hear presentations today from four developers bidding on the LSU Gateway Project, a mixed-use development of student housing and retail space that will be located on a 28-acre site of the Nicholson Drive Corridor between West Chimes Street and Skip Bertman Drive.
In early October, the foundation announced five firms had been invited to submit proposals. One firm, Corvias, chose not to participate. The four remaining semifinalists include: American Campus Communities, a publicly traded student housing real estate investment trust based in Austin, Texas; Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions, a Malvern, Pennsylvania-based firm; Capstone Development Partners of Birmingham, Alabama; and RISE, a Valdosta, Georgia, developer.
All four firms specialize in student housing developments, and all have partnered with local developers and real estate firms. The foundation declines to identify the local development partners, noting that such arrangements are still subject to change.
“(After today’s presentation), the LSU Property Foundation will narrow the field to two finalists,” says LSU Foundation spokeswoman Sara Crow. “When those finalists are selected, information about prospective team members, such as their local partners, will be solidified and can be shared.”
Crow says the developer will be selected early next year after in-depth negotiations with two finalists.
The developer selected for the LSU Gateway project will enter into a public-private partnership with the university to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the development. As envisioned, it will include 1,260 apartment-style beds and 410 suite-style beds with associated residential support spaces, such as lounge spaces, study areas, community gathering places and retail food service. The project also is expected to include 30,000 to 50,000 square feet of new retail space. A final price tag has not been determined.
—Stephanie Riegel
