Student Population Boom Drives $52M Project Near ASU Campus

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

Banking on demand from a fast-growing student population, EdR is developing a $52 million mixed-use collegiate housing community near Arizona State University’s Downtown campus and the Phoenix Biomedical campus.

The mid-rise development will feature 609 beds within 326 units. Concord Eastridge is serving as construction partner for the 326-unit, 609-bed complex and expects to complete the project in 2013. EdR, the majority owner, will manage the property.

The units will feature one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom layouts. Planned amenities include two clubhouses, tanning and fitness facilities, WiFi and Internet access, swimming pools, study lounges and computer labs. A five-story parking structure will include about 400 spaces. One of the residential structures will offer 7,500 square feet of ground-level retail space.

EdR is starting the project amid projections that the combined student population at ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus and the Phoenix Biomedical campus reach 16,000 by 2020. That represents a more than 50 percent increase from the 10,000 students in the area only two years ago.

Other nearby development includes a new student recreation center at ASU, which will open in the spring of 2013. In a move that will likely increase demand for student housing, the ASU Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law is planning to relocate to the Downtown campus.