Orlando-based Development Ventures Group, also known as known as the Deven Group, plans to grow its student housing development portfolio to more than $1 billion worth of assets in the next three years. The company will focus on developing new projects at Tier I institutions, universities known for research that have high levels of funding and infrastructure.
“We see great opportunity for student housing development close to larger universities,” said Thom Cunningham, the Deven Group’s president and CEO. “Tier 1 institutions continue to see enrollment demand, and we take pride in delivering high-quality housing with the campus proximity and amenities students are looking for.”
The national developer, known as the Deven Group, works in a wide range of niches, having developed such projects as the CNBC global headquarters in New Jersey; the AT&T Park baseball stadium in San Francisco; the Waldorf-Astoria and Hilton Bonnet Creek Resort in Orlando; and the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California.
“We are looking for underutilized student housing sites around the country that can be improved to provide students with safe and convenient housing,” Cunningham said. “We are also seeking opportunities to create student housing as part of mixed-use developments. These projects can often be done on 1- to 3-acre sites within walking distance of university campuses.”
The Deven Group is at times a long-term property owner, but is typically an opportunistic seller of properties it develops. As an example, the Deven Group and partners Intown Group and Halstatt Real Estate Partners sold The Henry, a successful student housing facility in downtown Tampa, Florida, for $128.1 million in June to Strategic Facility Partners. The buyer is a Columbus, Ohio-based not-for-profit that partners with developers, owners and institutions affiliated with student housing.
The Henry, a 440,000-square-foot student housing property near the University of Tampa’s campus, was completed by the Deven Group in advance of the 2021 fall semester, ahead of schedule and under budget.
Under the Deven Group’s stewardship, the project averaged 93% occupancy, created the market for high-end housing for University of Tampa students, and was recognized as one of the premier student housing properties in the country. The property, which has 537 beds in 188 units, has everything from a rooftop pool with a DJ booth to a 24/7 grab-and-go market and a gym with skyline views of Tampa.
The Deven Group has a strong track record of developing student housing beds, and has more than 2,200 beds in its active development pipeline at Tier 1 universities across the country. Among its other projects are two developments with student housing components in Orlando, Florida:
Student housing has up to a 20% per-square-foot rent premium vs. traditional multifamily, which makes the niche attractive for the Deven Group, a subsidiary of Kajima USA and the Kajima Corporation, a 180-year-old publicly traded Tokyo-based construction and real estate company. By leveraging the Kajima Corporation’s resources, the Deven Group believes it has all the tools to deliver projects on time for fall occupancy.
