American Campus Communities Starts Construction on Two $80 Million Student Projects

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

American Campus Communities is currently working on a series of housing projects totaling $262 million. According to a press release issued by the Austin-based residential developer and manager, the company recently began construction on two university projects: a $45 million project at the University of Buffalo and a $34.8 million off-campus complex at Texas Tech University.

The Texas development will feature 612 beds and a 7,400-square-foot community center that will include a large range of amenities such as fitness center, social lounge, wireless internet café, outdoor grills and a resort-style pool. The project contains conventional four bedroom and four bathroom units with an additional limited number of two bedroom units.

The two $80 million projects were announced immediately after American Campus Community broke ground on four projects costing $185 million that include the $29 million University of Texas project. Altogether the company has a construction portfolio of 13 developments for this year and the next, which represent nearly $500 million in development.

The 13 projects add to the ACC owned and managed student housing properties. At the moment, the developer owns 109 student housing properties with approximately 67,600 beds, according to a recent press release.

Another Austin university project was announced by the University of Texas and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology last week. The two parties plan to build a research center with the purpose of developing alternate ways to produce oil and natural gas. According to the Houston Chronicle, the center would be located at both UT’s campus in Austin and MIT’s in Cambridge, Mass. and it could require commitments of up to $100 million over five years.