Ohio firm buys West McKinley property

A 6.25-acre tract of land on West McKinley Street has been purchased for $3 million by an Ohio company that specializes in student housing. Hallmark Campus Communities bought the land from The Michaels Organization and Moreno Properties in a deal that was filed Thursday. Michaels, a New Jersey group that specializes in public-private partnerships, and Moreno, a Lafayette developer, paid $1.37 million for the land in a deal that closed in early May. David Trusty of Gully Phelps & McKey, who represented the sellers, says Hallmark originally wanted to buy the land in May. “They kept on raising the price, and eventually we thought it was smarter to let them do it,” Trusty says. Hallmark lists several student apartment developments on its website, including complexes near the University of Kentucky, the University of Cincinnati and Ohio University. Michaels and Moreno had done some engineering work on the site, designed a 152-unit apartment complex and started rezoning the land. Trusty says he doesn’t know if Hallmark will use the plans that had been developed for the site. “There’s a big circle for student housing opportunities around LSU,” he says. “This is very, very exciting.” —Timothy Boone