The Ohio developer of University Edge apartments has sold the complex at 650 W. McKinley St. for $32.5 million to an Illinois firm that specializes in student housing. Hallmark Student Housing Baton Rouge sold the two-year-old complex—which includes 474 beds in 158 units—to Scion BR Apartments, which owns and operates some 16,250 beds of university housing near 24 college campuses across the country.
“LSU is a market we really wanted to be in, and we actually hope to expand our presence there,” says Eric Bronstein, principal and executive vice president of Scion. “It is a good asset property in a good location in what we see as a strong market.”
Like many newer student housing complexes, University Edge counts beds rather than individual units. That’s because most of its apartments are designed to house several students, who each have a private bedroom and bath but share common areas. The model is appealing, particularly with younger students, because it is more economical and enables several students to live in close proximity.
Bronstein says Scion has enjoyed plenty of success managing complexes under the model and is bullish on the Old South Baton Rouge neighborhood that is home to University Edge because of its proximity both to LSU and the planned Water Campus.
“We feel we’ll be sandwiched between two big pieces of land that are run by the university, and it’s walking distance to the main campus,” he says. “We feel over the coming years it will improve even more as a satellite.”
Gregg Cordaro with the Berkadia Louisiana office represented the seller in the transaction. At $221,088 per unit, or $68,856 per bed, he says the sale marks the highest price-per-unit paid for a student housing community in Louisiana.
—Stephanie Riegel
