Campus Apartment Complex

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Campus Apartment Complex

FOURWINDS APARTMENTS

4123 Tuttle St.
Louisville, KY 40203

Fourwinds is an upscale apartment complex for students living near universities and colleges. We are proposing this new style of property for use around the thousands of college campuses throughout the country. This complex will also serve as an investment opportunity for the smaller real estate investor to have the opportunity to get into real estate by purchasing individual units within each apartment complex and then allowing our rental management company to lease them to students and staff on their behalf. The model is intended to be easily replicated across the country.

BUSINESS OVERVIEW

The business that Fourwinds is really in is providing peace of mind for tenants, the tenants’ parents, and investors of the property. The largest aspect of our business is providing housing for students who need quality living space for a short time. Creating a sense of community among a group of similar tenants is a key goal of our model as well.

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Our product has many unique features and benefits that would create a sustainable competitive advantage for Fourwinds. The most unique feature of our property is the ability to invest in a portion of an apartment complex. This spreads out the risk and financial strain to entice even the conservative investor. This feature also gets more members of the community involved and creates a more accommodating atmosphere to a project of this size in a town or city.

Multiple unit styles will be offered as a part of Fourwinds. We will have efficiencies and one bedroom offerings. There will also be “oversized” two–bedroom units capable of fitting 3–4 students. The most upscale apartments will be the penthouses. There will be from 2–5 penthouse units that will offer 3 bedrooms as well as special amenities and privileges. The upscale quality of Fourwinds controls the quality of the tenant. By charging higher rents, the “slum lord” mentality is avoided.

There are several amenities we will offer that will differentiate Fourwinds from the competition. At each tower a unique list of area businesses to visit will be distributed to each unit for the purpose of promoting local businesses and attracting tenants to the property. Lounge areas will be put throughout the buildings for studying, group work, or just a quiet space to get away from your roommate. This is a space that is often sorely lacking for students confined to a small area with several roommates. The most unique amenity that we will be offering will be limited furnishings for rooms. This saves parents who often have to travel long distances from having to rent trucks or spend thousands of dollars on new furniture. A restaurant space will be put on the ground floor that will deliver to the tenants within the building. Many of the units will include balconies. These are some of the more unique amenities we will include to differentiate ourselves from the competition. Some of the more standard amenities include:

24 hour security
Closed–circuit surveillance system inside and out
Internet access and cable television included in rent
Recreational/Workout room
Underground Parking
Community building activities
Knowledgeable full–time leasing office

These are some of the amenities that many complexes include to stay competitive in an already cut–throat market. We feel that blending the standard fare amenities with our unique concepts will create a rental development that students will not only want to live in, but pay a premium to live in.

Another unique feature of our product is the cycle in which we receive new tenants. It is inherently consistent. Most students will sign yearly leases beginning in the summer. This creates both a remarkable opportunity and a potential weakness for the development. Many people will be applying for moving in months in advance to secure a spot. The monthly addition of tenants will be at a minimum. This creates predictability in move–in and move–out schedules for logistical purposes. This also can cut costs during the summer when more units can be refurbished at one time instead of multiple times throughout the year. The benefits of this yearly cycle of tenants is the cost effectiveness, while the drawback is the cash flow issue if the building is not satisfactorily occupied by the fall semester.

Risk Factors

Many of our limitations are things that all rental properties must struggle with. Property must be available within walking distance to make the project be truly beneficial. If driving is involved, many students can not live in the Fourwinds and that would create more vacancies. The real estate development business is intense. Competing developers with more substantial cash flows could come in and spend us into the ground. The university that we are targeting could also create more on campus housing, hurting the number of students that move off campus. Many schools that would be candidates are in urban areas. This can often create the perception of a large apartment building being unsafe. This notion must be altered or at least soothed by offering things such as 24–hour security and cameras. The major flaw of Fourwinds is the reliance on the university. Institutions must keep their enrollment steady or rising, otherwise the tenant base will be greatly reduced. Restrictions from schools regarding scholarships and moving off campus must also be considered. Some universities tie academic scholarships to living on campus for some time, or for all four years. This could greatly affect the number of students who move to nearby apartments. These are the major limitations that could cause problems for Fourwinds.

BUSINESS STRATEGY

The process of building a project such as this involves four main stages: design, develop, manage, and duplicate. The design phase can be broken down into three main parts: finance, site selection, and blueprint. The financing stage will involve finding an investor or bank that will be willing to guarantee the necessary building funds if we can get 50 percent of the units sold before construction begins. This has successfully worked in many places with the condo–hotel industry and we believe it could work in the rental industry as well. Site selection is a key part of the process. Fourwinds has to be within walking distance, while still having enough space to build our project. The land must also be build worthy and at the right price. Finally, we will create the blueprint for the building. Each school will have to be slightly different to accommodate the size of the property and the unit needs for each individual school. These are the three key elements of the design phase.

The develop phase will be the most time and cost intensive. To begin development of the project, we will need to find a contractor. While searching out bids for the project, we will have to begin selling units. To further entice investors to purchase, a model unit will be built and fully furnished. Sales professionals will be hired to sell units on a commission basis to motivate them. When the contractor bids are in and we have sold half of the units, we will break ground. Throughout the building process, units will continue to be marketed and sold. A leasing office will be created when the project is nearly completed and a wait list will be started for tenants. When the building is completed, the development phase will end and the management phase will begin.

The management phase will be an ongoing effort. The leasing office will be moved inside the building and a full service staff will be installed. Marketing of the rental units will continue aggressively until capacity is reached. Unsold units will also continue to be listed by a realtor or sales staff in-house. Maintenance staff and amenities will be contracted out at this phase. Finishing the landscaping and other finishing touches will be completed early in this phase. The owner’s association of Fourwinds will be formed. Quarterly owner meetings will be held, as well as a liaison for the owners in the leasing office. Day–to–day operations will be carried on here as part of the ongoing efforts. The last stage will be duplication. This stage will be discussed in greater detail in the Future Action Plan section.

CUSTOMERS

Fourwinds is a spin–off of the up and coming condominium–hotel trend toward real estate investing. A condominium–hotel operates like any typical luxury hotel, however each suite is privately owned, typically for investment purposes. In most typical condominium–hotels an individual will purchase a suite and an in-house rental management company set forth by the developer will manage the property, with a 50/50 revenue split. This concept has become very popular on the coast and has recently moved inward to Knoxville, Tennessee.

Complementing this trend toward fully managed investment real estate is a trend seen in American culture. Americans are undoubtedly living fast–paced lives and show no sign of slowing down. In fact, it appears as if Americans’ daily lives are only moving faster every year. When time is of the essence, busy Americans may not have time in their day to manage a rental property on top of their daily routine. However, with an in–house rental management company busy Americans will only need to take their check to the bank each month, because everything else will be taken care of for them.

Changing lifestyles of today’s youths reflect trends in student housing; from increased desires for privacy, to the respect for choice and flexibility, to the premium placed on aesthetics and design. “Students don’t want their home to look like a prison,” said Frankie Minor, housing director at Mizzou. UMSL’s new $26 million, 430-bed Oak Hall, is far from a prison, featuring an outdoor heated pool, fitness room, barbecue pit, convenience store, sand volleyball court, and more (Post-Dispatch). Students today are more likely to have their own bedroom at home so they are demanding such privacy at school. U.S. Census figures from the last decade show the average family size has gotten smaller while the number of bedrooms in houses has increased. At Indiana State University’s new residence hall, four suitemates share two bathrooms and a common living space. There is a pool table, a fitness room, flat–screen TVs, and sleek black couches on the first floor, which doubles as a student center. It is evident that today’s youth are living large in housing that looks like anything but a dorm.

These students do not stop short at aesthetics. On a number of campuses students are able to hire personal maids to clean and do their laundry. They pay moving crews to pack and transport their stuff. They take advantage of grocery delivery services, and even arrive to school on the first day in limousines.

Students willing and able to pay $30,000–$40,000 per year tuition rates at private universities do not only desire such luxurious housing, they expect it. For example, at DePaul University, a private university in Chicago, students living in Loft–Right have all the amenities: expansive city views, granite countertops, modern designer furniture, and satellite TV. Students are willing to pay more than $1,000 a month for a private bedroom in a two or four–bedroom unit, with bathrooms shared by no more than two people.

Fourwinds will rival all other luxury housing for students on college campuses. We will offer every imaginable service and amenity, including modern designer furniture with a “turn–key” experience. Our units will be the talk of the town when students are living large and investors are reaping the benefits of a captured audience demanding the best and willing to pay what it takes. This is a sound investment for anyone wanting to get involved in real estate or wanting to diversify their portfolio.

Another important trend related to our product is the enrollment and growth trends of the university that we locate near. University of Louisville recently released official censes figures which show the largest enrollment ever. A total of 11,145 students are participating in classes at the university. The previous record for overall University of Louisville enrollment was set in 2005 at 11,112 students. This year’s freshman class made enrollment history. The University also received a record number of enrollment applications allowing them to be more selective.

Current University of Louisville housing arrangements can only house 3,437 students. This is merely 30 percent of the total university population. This is all the housing University of Louisville currently offers and as the trend continues to turn to off–campus housing we do not foresee any additional housing being added to the University’s campus. In fact, several of the apartments will be torn down to make way for the new arena. This is further evidence as to why we foresee this project being a sound investment.

We have two separate sets of customers. One is our investment customer and the other is our residential tenant customer. Our investment customer is one who wants to purchase one of our apartment units as an investment. One customer segment would be parents of students because they have an understanding of university housing and are aware of the profits in off–campus student housing. A second customer segment would be real estate investors looking for rental property because our apartment units function similarly to other rental property except that they take advantage of being located near universities, which typically sustain high housing demands. These investors would be looking for hassle free investments which take little time involvement. Our investment customers would be described as middle to upper class with high disposable incomes. Many of them would be parents of at least one college–aged child. The parent segment would be located throughout the United States but would have a child attending the university were our development is located. The real estate investors looking for rental property would typically be located within driving distance of our development.

Our second set of customers is residential tenants. Our main customer segment here is students who attend the university by which we are located. Typically, they would range from undergraduate sophomores up to graduate students and already live on campus. These students would be looking for more space and more comfort. We would target both males and females. Another important aspect of this customer segment is the parents. In most cases, the parents will be the ones who actually pay the rent and give the finally authorization so we must not only attract students but must assure parents that their children will be safe and have a great place to live and learn. These parents will need to be open–minded to allowing their child to live off campus. A second customer segment for residential tenants will be employees of the university, such as professors or doctors and nurses of a university hospital. This segment will be characterized by people who want to have the convenience of living near their job. Due to the luxurious style and amenities of our buildings our tenants will be middle to upper class with high disposable incomes.

MARKET ANALYSIS

The United States real estate market has seen a decline in new housing construction in 2006. The Commerce Department said October housing starts came in at an annual pace of 1.486 million units, compared with a pace of 1.74 million units in September. Economists had forecasted October housing starts to fall to 1.690 million units from September’s originally reported pace of 1.772 million. These statistics compared to October of 2005, 2.046 million units, show housing starts were down 27.4 percent. This slow down could be because new construction inventory homes has increased and that they are not currently selling. We can speculate that with this slow down in new construction that it will help home builders sell some of their existing inventory.

The real estate market in Louisville around the campus and the Louisville metropolitan area has been on the decline for the past year. From November 17, 2004, through November 17, 2005, the sold properties in the residential area that consisted of a 1.5 mile radius around the campus had an average of 85 consecutive days on market with a median sale price of $303,583. Comparing this to the statistics from November 17, 2005, to November 17 2006, there was a slight rise to 106 consecutive days on market with a drop in the median sale price to $274,050.

These statistics show that homes are staying on the market a little bit longer and are not selling for as much as they were a year ago. This shows that there has been a change in what would be considered a sellers market last year to what is currently a buyers market. Home owners who are selling are lowering there prices in an attempt to attract more potential buyers and buyers are aware that they now have more negotiating power when they are writing an offer on a home. As a result the buyer will generally be able to purchase the home for a lower price than they would have been able to a year ago.

The chart below shows what the Louisville market looked like for the past year. The “other” section of the graph constitutes all the expired, withdrawn, and temporary off the market listings.

The property management and rental industry in the Louisville area is also slow. With the interest rates being at historic lows for the past few years, people who were not initially able to afford a home now were able. This has lead to less people renting, resulting in a large inventory of vacant homes waiting to be rented. Another factor that has lead to a higher inventory is that some of the people who have failed at their attempt to sell their house are putting there house up for rent. This has a negative effect on the market because landlords have to lower their price in order to attract more potential tenants.

In contrast to the greater Louisville area, the area directly surrounding University of Louisville has a very strong rental market. There are 11 main apartment complexes in the area that are composed of a little over 1,300 combined rental units. The majority of these complexes are completely rented out and some even have a waiting list for future occupancy. Due to the strong demand, these complexes are able to charge an inflated rental rate.

Growth Strategy

Despite all of the negatives in the housing and the property management markets, the specific areas on which we want to concentrate are around college campuses that have a housing shortage. University of Louisville is one of these areas in which there is not enough housing to cover the demand and as a result students are paying a premium for rent.

Currently there are more than 7,000 undergraduates and 4,000 graduates attending school at University of Louisville, which is a record for the school. University of Louisville only has student housing that will cater to around 3,437 students which leaves over 7,000 students to fend for themselves. The area that directly surrounds the university only has about 1,300 units to cover the over flow.

Besides the shortage of housing for students around campus, the city of Louisville has identified a 246 acre biotech corridor that will be developing in the Midtown area. The majority of this corridor will be located directly west of the university and east of the hospital. There is also talk of a second biotech campus that will be 73 acres surrounding the University Medical Campus.

This new biotech campus has the capacity to change the Midtown market. Thomassman, who currently is one of the largest investors in the biotech corridor, is developing a $36 million dollar state–of–the–art biotech building right down the street from the university. With companies investing millions of dollars in this area there is definitely a chance that the Midtown market will improve in the future.

Currently in progress adjacent to University of Louisville’s campus are two large developments, The Towers and Stonewall. The Towers, which is located on College Street, north of the main campus, is an older building that is going to be converted into condominiums. These condominiums will be starting at around $120,000 for a studio and will go up from there. The renovation has not begun but is expected to start in the spring of 2008. Stonewall, located off Appleby Street next to Emily’s Diner, is going to be a 242 unit loft/apartment complex. This complex is still under construction and is planning to be finished prior to the fall 2007 school year. We believe that the building that we would develop and the differentiating features and benefits it would offer will directly cater to students’ needs and would increase demand for our units to a higher point than our competitors’ units.

Competition

Both the investment aspect and student housing aspect of our product will encounter competition. Competitors on the investment side include investing in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, CDs, and other real estate investments such as rental houses or condominium–hotels. Our product differentiates itself by offering a unique way of investing and another chance to diversify an existing portfolio. It takes advantage of the current trends in real estate investing and combines them with investing in apartment complexes that are near universities. This offers less risk because housing near universities is typically in high demand and will allow for a more predictable and stable level of return. In addition, investing in rental property such as ours provides certain tax advantages, such as deductions for mortgage interest. Also, our competition is unable to consciously compete with us. For example, stocks cannot knowingly increase their prices in order to give a higher rate of return and attract more investors.

Next, we look at competition in regards to the student housing aspect of our product. The first competitive force that we must consider is the university that we locate near because it has the ability to control the market due to its unique relationship to the students and parents and its large percentage of housing when compared to off–campus competitors.

At the University of Louisville market the university controls 53 percent of the units as shown in the graph below.

Even though the university is unable to house all of its students, it is still able to put competitive pressure on off–campus housing. For example, it has significant control over pricing. The off–campus competitors set their rent prices at a point where a tenant with roommates is able to pay about the same price to live off campus as it would take to live on campus. If the university changes its room rates then the off–campus competitors may need to change their rents to match. This actually occurred at University of Louisville. Students entering University of Louisville in the 2006–2007 school year would have $2,000 of their scholarship tied to room and board. If a student did not live on campus then $2,000 of their scholarship money would be taken away. This was done in response to the trend of students moving off–campus after freshman year. This was successful with some students whose parents would not allow them to move off campus due to the loss of scholarship money. However, the off–campus competitors showed no sign of concern and made no decreases in their pricing. In fact, rent increased at many of the off–campus competitors and wait lists continued to grow. This shows that there is still are a large portion of the market willing to pay a premium for more spacious and luxurious accommodations. Also, the university realized that their decision to subsidize living on campus through scholarship money could not be sustained because there is not enough campus housing to accommodate all students. This resulted in the repeal of the earlier decision to tie $2,000 of scholarship money to housing. For the 2007–2008 school year, no scholarship money will be directly tied to on–campus living. According to the current Student Government Association President Bob Tribek, the university does not view off–campus housing as a competitor but as a partner. University of Louisville recognizes the need of off–campus housing to accommodate its growing student body.

Next, we will look at the off–campus competitors around the university. They play a major role in our project because they dictate the kind of amenities that are required as a minimum for our building but also show us what amenities are lacking that we can provide as a means of differentiation. Their response to our entry into the market is limited because they will not easily be able to add the student–focused amenities that we will be offering, such as our lounge and breakout study rooms and the unique styling of our units. With the growing enrollment at University of Louisville and increasing demand for housing, it will be unlikely that a price war will initiate. With most buildings having wait lists, there is still enough room in the market for more housing. The following graph shows the percentage of units per building when we remove the university from the market.

With the university removed from the market there is less concentration of units in one particular building. However, this means that differentiation becomes more important because we must compete with off–campus competitors by offering amenities that the students desire more and for which they are willing to pay more. The following is a discussion of off–campus apartment buildings that are considered the first alternatives to on–campus living at University of Louisville.

Stained Glass House

The Stained Glass House is an art deco skyscraper located at the corner of Smith and Walnut, behind the hospital. It contains 107 units including efficiencies and one, two, and three bedroom apartments. This building welcomes student residents but limits them to the bottom eight floors of the building. Also, it is not directly across the street from the main campus. Students would have to walk about one block north to get there. Currently, there are four vacant units.

Gas is the only utility included with rent. Residents are responsible for a portion of electric, sewer, trash, and water. Cable television is supplied by Cook Communications and is paid by the resident. Internet and phone are available through the Stained Glass House’s leasing office but for an extra fee. Some unique amenities available to residents are Bocce court, concierge, boardroom, party room, ice makers in refrigerators, and conditioned storage lockers for an extra charge.

Brown Towers

Brown Tower is the newest apartment building to open around University of Louisville and is located on Greenfield Avenue behind Brad’s Books. It contains 300 units including 320 square’foot studios and 520 square’foot one bedrooms. They are currently running a promotion of $100 dollars off each month’s rent for the first three months. This building is not located in the most desirable place for students because it is located in an area with a stigma for crime and is a longer walk to classes than other available off–campus competitors. Also, its smaller units limit it to students who want to live by themselves rather than having roommates. However, all utilities are included in the rent. Some unique amenities available to residents are a 24–hour doorperson and a lounge/billiard room.

Brookside Village

Brookside Village is located on the corner of Pine and Elm, behind the Medical Library. It contains 87 two bedroom apartments that range from 818 to 956 square feet with a 99 percent occupancy rate. This building is about a two block walk from campus, which is the farthest away, and many would not advise making this walk at night. Water, sewer, and trash are included in the rent. Cable television, telephone, and internet are paid by the resident. A unique amenity of this building is a jazz restaurant on the ground floor named Pianos at Brookside.

Country View Place

Country View Place is located at the corner of Howard and Miller, across the street from the University of Louisville education building, which makes it a great location for education students. It contains 77 units including one and two bedroom apartments. Currently, it is completely filled and has a wait list. Water, sewer, and trash are included in the rent. Some unique amenities of this building are that it is all electric, has a swimming pool, and storage lockers are available.

Stonewall Apartments

Stonewall is still under construction and has just recently begun leasing apartments. It is scheduled to open in January 2007. It is located on Appleby Street, right next to Emily’s Diner. This is great location for students because it is across the street from campus and is located next to the university’s two main bars, Emily’s Diner and Whiskeytown Bar and Grill. The building contains 242 units and includes mainly one and two bedroom apartments and one four bedroom apartment. Internet, cable television, water, sewer, and trash will be included in the rent. Some unique amenities that will be available to residents are a swimming pool, game room, coffee shop, and restaurant.

Stonewall formed a partnership with the School of Economics. Forty–one of the units will be designated as housing for University of Louisville economics students. These apartments will be used to form a community for economics students who can share common meeting rooms, meditation areas, and kitchens.

Managed Properties

The following properties are managed by Town Management, LLC. These properties are the most significant off–campus competitor because each property is located directly across the street from campus and they do the most to tailor to student tenants, such as security that understands and manages college parties and allowing deposits to be put down on apartments in order to hold them until the students can move off campus at the end of the school year.

Ashton Park

Ashton Park is a 200 unit building located on Brownell across from the School of Business. It contains studios and one, two, and three bedroom apartments. However, the majority are two bedrooms. It is completely filled and has a wait list. The apartments in this building are very close together and some tenants complain of too much noise from neighboring units.

Utilities included in the rent are local telephone service, internet, recycling service, water, sewer, trash, gas, electric, and basic cable. Some unique amenities are an on–site ATM, bike racks, ballroom, arcade/game room, swimming pool, a restaurant, a bakery, and meeting center.

Holloway East

Holloway East is located to the immediate west of the Ashton Park. This tower contains 110 apartments made up of one and three bedrooms. However, the majority are one bedroom apartments. The building is currently filled and has a wait list.

Utilities included in the rent are local telephone service, internet, recycling service, water, sewer, trash, gas, electric, and basic cable. Some unique amenities include bike racks and a swimming pool.

Holloway West

Holloway West is located beside Holloway East. It contains 100 units including studios, one bedroom, and two bedroom apartments. Currently, it is fully occupied and has a wait list.

Utilities included in the rent are local telephone service, internet, recycling service, water, sewer, trash, gas, electric, and basic cable. Some unique amenities available to residents include a rooftop terrace, bike racks, and a swimming pool.

Freize Towers

Frieze Towers is located on Haught, just west of Holloway Towers. It is home to the Frieze Theater and Lounge and the Frieze Lanes bowling alley. It contains forty units consisting of studios and one, two, and three bedroom apartments. However, the majority are three bedrooms. This building is known for its larger than average apartments. It is fully occupied and has a wait list.

Utilities included are internet, basic cable, local telephone, water, trash, sewer, and recycling services. Some unique amenities available to residents include a washer and dryer in each unit, bike racks, billiards and arcade, a swimming pool, and an on–site ATM.

Skyscape

Skyscape is located on Campus Drive to the immediate east of Frieze Towers. It is designed for residents who want a quiet place to live and study. It is primarily occupied by graduate students. It contains twelve units including studios and one bedroom apartments and is fully occupied. Utilities included are gas, water, trash, sewer, basic cable, internet, and recycling services. Some unique amenities of this property include a swimming pool and a bike rack.

Brownstone Place

Brownstone Place is located at the corner of Brownstone and Graham. It contains 30 units consisting of two and three bedroom apartments. It is viewed as the low cost option for off–campus housing. Currently, it is filled. Utilities included are water, sewer, and trash. A unique amenity that is included is a security system in each unit.

Additional Competition

One additional competitor to take into consideration is the idea of living at home or with relatives in the area. Students living at home represent potential for growth if we can attract them to living on their own and benefiting from the convenience of living next to campus in their own place.

GROWTH STRATEGY

Feasibility

We believe that this project is a GO. Based on the current housing demand near University of Louisville, the trends in campus living and real estate investing, the income bracket of many University of Louisville families, and the ability to duplicate this concept in other markets we feel that our idea is not only feasible but profitable.

Further Information Needed

We will need some more information to move forward. First, to proceed with the project in Louisville, we will have to know the exact price of the land. This initial purchase will be the first thing for which we need funding. Then we will have to find an architect to design the floor plans. With a specific floor plan drawn we can obtain exact bids on the cost of building.

As we work on the project in Louisville, the research process should continue in other cities. As stated earlier in our study, there are four phases to our project: design, develop, manage, and duplicate. In the duplicate phase we want to find new locations to expand into with a major university, steady growth in their incoming classes, on–campus housing that is at or near capacity, and available land that is large enough to accommodate our building and within walking distance of the campus. We would have to find a project supervisor for each city we expanded to or have one member of our team be project supervisor for each city (allowing us to work in up to five cities at once).

Additional Support

We will need a lot of additional support. We will need to find one main investor to be the initial investor. Once we have that investment to purchase the land and design the floor plan we will need to gain the support of a financial institution to gain a construction loan. The investor will need to continue to provide financial support and guidance.

A consideration for each new city we look into will be whether or not we can gain support from the university for which we are looking to provide housing. One of the first places we have discussed would be University of Kentucky, but if the administration of UK does not cooperate with us, we will never be able to move forward. We will have to be far enough into the plan at University of Louisville for the banks and construction companies in a new city to take us seriously and want to do the project in their city.

Also, the cost of living in one of our units will be higher than some of the other off–campus options. By charging higher rates, as stated earlier, the “slum lord” mentality can be avoided. Establishing a connection at each university where we are hoping to expand housing will be crucial. We will need to have someone within the university to find information about student and family demographics, housing needs, willingness to pay higher rents, and the general attitude of students.

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