Landmark Properties and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority have sold a portfolio of eight student housing properties, valued at over $1 billion. The buyer was a partnership of Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Global Student Accommodation, with funds managed by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing, per a Nov. 12 press release.

The portfolio, which was sold in an off-market transaction, spans multiple Tier 1 university markets and includes 6,200 beds in a mix of cottage-style, high-rise and mid-rise formats. Landmark did not immediately respond to requests for comments about the sale.

Properties include:

• The Retreat at Corvallis serving Oregon State University.
• The Standard at State College and The Metropolitan State College serving Pennsylvania State University.
• The Standard at Charlottesville serving the University of Virginia.
• The Retreat at Gainesville serving the University of Florida.
• The Standard at College Station serving Texas A&M University.
• The Retreat at Kennesaw serving Kennesaw State University in Georgia.
• The Standard at Raleigh serving North Carolina State University.

“This student housing portfolio fully aligns with our strategy to acquire high-quality, resilient assets in prime locations,” Will Milam, head of U.S. investments at Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing, said in the release. “We are pleased to partner with GSA to strengthen our market position to capture the ongoing demand for student housing in some of the country’s top university markets.”

Athens, Georgia-based Landmark and ADIA formed their first joint venture in 2015 to develop student housing properties adjacent to top U.S. universities. In 2022, they created a value-add acquisition platform, according to a separate release shared by the sellers.

“This sale underscores the value we’ve created through our partnership with ADIA and the high quality of the assets across the portfolio,” Wes Rogers, chairman and CEO of Landmark Properties, said in a press release announcing the sale.

Rogers said the proceeds of the sale will provide significant liquidity to redeploy into new student housing investments and projects. Landmark has over 115 residential communities with 72,000 beds and a development pipeline comprising more than 50 student and multifamily projects under construction.

Yugo, which has its U.S. base in Denver, has been appointed as the manager of the portfolio. Both Yugo and GSA are part of Dubai-based The Dot Group.

Landmark and ADIA aren’t the only owners to sell large student housing portfolios over the past couple of years.

In September, Yugo announced that it acquired Austin, Texas-based student housing operator and real estate investment management firm Campus Advantage and its approximately 40,000 beds across 88 properties in 28 states.

In November 2024, Chicago-based investment management firm Harrison Street sold a U.S. student housing portfolio totaling 14 communities to Chicago-based The Scion Group and a major institutional investor for $893 million. The 8,724-bed portfolio is located across 11 states and 13 universities, including the University of Arkansas, Texas A&M and the University of Missouri.

In April 2024, KKR and Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust announced that funds managed by KKR would acquire a portfolio of 19 purpose-built student housing properties from BREIT for approximately $1.64 billion.

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