JV pays $45m to purchase college community

Real Estate Weekly, Sept 27, 2006

MEMPHIS, Tenn: Education Realty Trust, inc. announced it has completed the previously announced $45 million, joint-venture purchase of University Village Towers, a 525-bed off-campus collegiate community near the University of California, Riverside. The purchase is structured in a joint venture with Walton Street Capital, L.L.C., a private real estate investment firm based in Chicago. EDR owns a minority interest in the joint venture with Walton Street Capital. EDR manages operations of University Village Towers through its property management subsidiary, Allen & O'Hara Education Services, Inc.

The one-year-old community is located approximately one-half mile from the University of California, Riverside (UCR) campus, one of the few in the UC system with growth capacity. California leads the nation in the total number of high school graduates annually and enrollment at UCR is expected to rise from nearly 17,000 students to 21,000 by 2010 and 25,000 by 2015.

"We are pleased with the purchase of such an attractive property in a very desirable market in partnership with such a sophisticated group of hands-on real estate investors. We expect the university, our community and our joint venture will perform very well over time," said EDR executive vice president and chief investment officer Craig Cardwell.

Education Realty Trust, Inc. is a real estate investment trust that owns, manages and develops high-quality collegiate student housing.