Korean investors close in on US student housing acquisition

South Korean investors are inching closer to taking over a student housing facility in the United States from US real estate developer Lincoln Ventures for roughly 140 billion won ($119.37 million), local brokerage arm Korea Investment & Securities said Wednesday.

The 18-story building, Moontower, has four underground levels and houses 166 units with 567 beds. The high-end student residential facility will serve the University of Texas at Austin starting in the fall 2020 semester. Its 19,000-square-meter floor space encompasses residences, community spaces and amenities.

The Korean capital-backed investor group led by Ocean West Capital Partners was recently selected as a preferred bidder for the deal. The consortium is composed of Seoul-based property investment house Tiger Alternative Investors and brokerage firm Korea Investment & Securities, as well as US developer Landmark Properties, which will be in charge of Moontower’s leasing management.

Korea Investment & Securities will underwrite the equity acquisition for a sell-down transaction with domestic institutional investors.

The consortium has a track record of investment in US student housing for over a year. In March, the investor group bought a 663-unit student housing asset serving the University of California at Davis from Greystar Real Estate Partners. Last year the same group bought student residential facilities near the University of Michigan.

By Son Ji-hyoung (consnow@heraldcorp.com)