Blackstone REIT and Greystar Partner to Buy $1.2 Billion Student Housing Portfolio
Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc., a publicly registered non-traded real estate investment trust sponsored by The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX), has agreed to purchase the Education Realty Trust’s student housing portfolio for $1.2 billion in a joint venture with Greystar Real Estate Partners.
Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc., a publicly registered non-traded real estate investment trust sponsored by The Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX), has agreed to purchase the EdR Student Housing Portfolio for $1.2 billion in a joint venture with Greystar Real Estate Partners. Blackstone REIT holds a 95 percent interest in the joint venture, while Greystar holds the remaining 5 percent.
The transaction will be completed in conjunction with Greystar’s previously announced $4.6 billion acquisition of Education Realty Trust (NYSE: EDR), one of the largest owners, developers and managers of student housing in the United States.
The EdR Student Housing Portfolio includes 10,500 beds across 20 student housing properties that sit adjacent to top-tier universities, such as University of California Berkeley, University of California Riverside, University of Virginia, University of Arizona, Arizona State University, University of Colorado Boulder and Penn State.
The portfolio is on average eight years old and has maintained occupancy rates in excess of 97 percent. The Greystar/EdR team will continue to manage the assets.
“The transaction is consistent with BREIT’s strategy of acquiring high quality, income generating properties that have attractive long-term growth potential,” said Frank Cohen, chairman and CEO at BREIT. “We are thrilled to acquire such a high-quality portfolio of student housing properties, concentrated in leading U.S. universities with growing enrollments.”
Following the closing of this transaction, Blackstone REIT will own an approximately $12 billion portfolio of real estate, as well as real estate debt securities.
Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, a perpetual life, monthly NAV REIT, invests in stabilized income-oriented commercial real estate in the United States and real estate-related securities. The company is headquartered in New York City and externally managed by BX REIT Advisors., a subsidiary of Blackstone. Blackstone REIT has raised more than $2.8 billion in investor equity, as of the first quarter of 2018.
