American Campus Communities – Wikipedia

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American real estate investment trust

American Campus Communities, Inc. (ACC) is the largest developer, owner and manager of student housing communities in the United States.[2] It is headquartered in Bee Cave, Texas, with an Austin postal address.[3]

Co-founded in 1993 by CEO Bill Bayless, the company works with universities to develop, manage and finance on-campus communities. As of March 31, 2021, the company owned 166 student housing properties with approximately 111,900 beds, including its owned and third-party managed properties. ACC’s total managed portfolio consists of 207 properties with approximately 142,400 beds.[1]

History[edit]

From 1993 to 2003, the company partnered with SUNY system, the University of California System, and the Texas A&M University System to develop and manage student housing.

In 1996, Prairie View A&M University became the company’s first university partner with the development of on campus, University Village. ACC developed housing for more than 2,000 students over the next two years.[4]

In 1997, Bayless bought out his partners and in 1999, ACC developed its first off-campus residence, the Callaway House College Station at Texas A&M University for first‑year students.[5]

In 2004, ACC became a public company via an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming the first publicly traded student housing company in the United States.[6]

In 2005, the company worked with Arizona State University (ASU) on the Vista del Sol community, to pioneer the American Campus Equity program, an ownership model for on-campus student housing. With ACE, ACC brings equity to a project and serves as the university’s financial, development and operating partner.[7] In 2008, the company acquired the student housing division of GMH Communities Trust in a $1.4 billion transaction, doubling the size of the company.[8]

In 2011, the company received $132 million contract to build a 1,008-bed student housing complex at Northern Illinois University.[9] In 2013, ACC entered the Ivy League with Princeton’s Merwick Stanworth faculty and staff housing community was its first project at an Ivy League university.[10] It later expanded its partnership to develop and manage Princeton graduate student housing.[11]

ASU’s Manzanita Hall, became ACC’s first redevelopment, reconfiguring the dilapidated 1960s high rise into a modern layout that promotes academic performance, collaboration and community.[12] In 2016, ACC broke ground on its 100th development, U Club Sunnyside at WVU, CEO Bill Bayless’ alma mater.[13] In 2017, ASU opened the Tooker House, the largest engineering residential college. This marked the sixth phase of the ASU partnership and 33rd LEED certified building.[14]

In 2018, ACC began construction on an approximately $615 million residential community for participants of the Disney College program, now known as Disney Internships & Programs, through an American Campus Equity translation.[15] In 2019, American Campus Communities joined Northeastern University and the city of Boston to open the 20-story residential tower, LightView,[16] as part of the “Housing A Changing City: Boston 2030” initiative to improve the quality and quantity of housing for students attending Boston institutions of higher education.[17]

In 2020, ACC collaborated with RB, the makers of Lysol, to set a formalized approach to cleanliness and disinfection at its student housing communities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[18]

On April 19, 2022, ACC announced that it was acquired by The Blackstone Group for $12.8 billion and would be going private (shareholders will be paid $65.47 cash per share). The acquisition was completed in August 2022.[19]

Major milestones[edit]

  • First publicly traded campus dorm REIT [20]
  • Pioneered on-campus equity transaction structure (ACE) [21]
  • Achieved Investment Grade Rating from Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s [22]
  • CEO Bill Bayless was the Regional Winner of the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award, and was subsequently named as a National Finalist (2007) [23]
  • National Association of Home Builders (2013) Development Firm of the Year [24]
  • Forbes “America’s 100 Most Trustworthy” companies list (2012 & 2013) [25]
  • In 2015, CEO Bill Bayless was featured by Commercial Property Executive as one of commercial real estate’s Most Innovative Executives [26]
  • Texas Monthly magazine named American Campus Communities one of the “Best Companies to Work For” on three separate occasions [27]
  • Student Housing Business 5 INNOVATOR Awards (2016) [28]
  • Student Housing Business 8 INNOVATOR Awards (2015) [29]
  • Texan by Nature 20 (TxN20) Honoree, an official ranking of the Top 20 Texas-based companies leading conservation and sustainability in 2019 and 2020 [30][31]
  • National Association of Home Builders Pillars of the Industry Award: Best in Green Market Rate Multifamily Community for Plaza Verde at University of California, Irvine in 2019 [32]
  • Great Place to Work Certification based on employees’ feedback on the Trust Index™ Survey administered by Great Place to Work for 2020 [33]
  • Globe St. CRE Best Bosses Awarded to CEO Bill Bayless in 2020 [34]

Partnerships[edit]

American Campus Communities and the mental health non profit, Hi, How Are You Project, aim to tackle issues of mental health among U.S. college students through a residence life training and awareness program at more than 70 universities across the country.[35]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b “American Campus Communities Inc. 2020 Form 10-K Annual Report”. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
  2. ^ “Largest U.S. student housing owners by property portfolio 2021”. Statista. Retrieved 2022-07-18.
  3. ^ “Contact Us”. American Campus Communities. Retrieved 2022-03-28. 12700 Hill Country Boulevard Suite T-200 Austin, Texas 78738 – Compare with the city limits map of Bee Cave, Texas. The address is not in the Austin city limits, but in fact is in Bee Cave.
  4. ^ “Prairie View A&M University and ACC”. Archived from the original on 2016-04-29.
  5. ^ “Callaway House”. Archived from the original on 2017-01-29.
  6. ^ “Inline XBRL Viewer”. www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  7. ^ “ACE Program”. Archived from the original on 2021-07-09.
  8. ^ “Sale of GMH Communities to American Campus complete”. Philadelphia Business Journals. Archived from the original on 2017-08-15.
  9. ^ “American Campus Communities building $132M housing project”. Austin Business Journal.
  10. ^ “American Campus Communities Begins Construction on Owned Faculty and Staff Housing Project for Princeton”. Yahoo News.
  11. ^ “Princeton U. Housing Project Is Under Way”. Globe St.
  12. ^ “Manzanita Hall 2.0: Rebirth of an icon”. ASU News. 2013.
  13. ^ “American Campus Communities Breaks Ground on Student Housing Project at West Virginia University”. Multifamily Biz. 2015.
  14. ^ “ASU’s Tooker House earns awards at Student Housing Conference”. AZ Big Media. 2018.
  15. ^ “Disney Breaks Ground on $630M Student Housing Project”. Multi-Housing News.
  16. ^ “Northeastern University, The City of Boston and American Campus Communities Come Together to Open LightView Student Living”. Bloomberg. 2019.
  17. ^ “Northeastern University, The City of Boston and American Campus Communities Come Together to Open LightView Student Living Community”. Business Wire. 2019.
  18. ^ “American Campus Communities Collaborates with RB, the Makers of Lysol, to Create Comprehensive Disinfection and Hygiene Education Protocol for Student Housing”. Nasdaq. 2020.
  19. ^ “Blackstone Completes $12.8 Billion Acquisition of American Campus Communities”. Student Housing Business.com. Retrieved 2022-12-08.
  20. ^ “American Campus Communities, Inc”. www.reit.com. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  21. ^ “Student Housing & Student Apartments – News & Media – American Campus Communities”. www.americancampus.com. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  22. ^ “Credit Ratings – American Campus Communities”. www.snl.com. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  23. ^ “Student Housing & Student Apartments – Executive Team – American Campus Communities”. www.americancampus.com. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  24. ^ “American Campus receives 2013 Development Firm of the Year and other accolades by NAHB”. www.businesswire.com. 2013-12-18. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  25. ^ “Austin firm named to Forbes’ ‘most trustworthy’ list”. www.bizjournals.com. Archived from the original on 2013-03-23. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  26. ^ “Most Innovative CRE Executives”. Commercial Property Executive. 2015-05-20. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  27. ^ “Texas Partners Honor 60 Best Companies to Work for in Texas at Awards Luncheon”. Flippen Group. 2015-02-01. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  28. ^ “American Campus Communities Wins Five Innovator Awards from Student Housing Business Magazine”. www.businesswire.com. 2017-04-11. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  29. ^ “The 2015 Student Housing Business Innovator Award Winners”. Student Housing Business. 2015-04-15. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  30. ^ “American Campus Communities Named in the Inaugural Texan by Nature 20”. Bloomberg. 21 November 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-07-09. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  31. ^ “Texan by Nature Recognizes American Campus Communities as Conservation and Sustainability Leader”. finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  32. ^ “Multifamily Pillars of the Industry Awards: 2020 Winners”. www.nahbclassic.org. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  33. ^ “American Campus Communities Earns Great Place to Work™ Certification”. au.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  34. ^ “Student Housing & Student Apartments – News & Media – American Campus Communities”. www.americancampus.com. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  35. ^ “‘Hi, How Are You?’ Project Showcases Mental Health In Austin”. Austin, TX Patch. 2020-10-06. Retrieved 2021-07-09.

External links[edit]