The Dobie, UT’s iconic 800-bed residence building, has traded hands. California-based Fowler Property Acquisitions purchased the property and is rebranding it as Dobie 2021. The property consists of a 27-story student housing tower, 96k SF of retail and a 290k SF parking garage. It was built in 1970 and has always maintained high occupancy because of its amazing location, but its amenities have fallen below nearby competition. (A couple of tricked-out student housing communities have delivered recently.) Fowler’s implementing a $10M renovation to modernize the community, including units, common areas, retail facilities and parking.

Fowler sourced the opportunity off market to beef up its student housing portfolio. Berkadia senior managing director Tucker Knight and managing director Corby Chaffin (here with most of the Berkadia Houston team) handled financing and tell us the deal generated a significant amount of lender interest from banks and life companies. It was a $58M loan, large for student housing, and the duo locked in a very competitive floating rate loan with Bank of America. Instead of a typical three-year term, it stretched to five to leave room for the very extensive renovations. Student housing deals come with their own challenges, but The Dobie stands out even among its niche (making it a little hard for capital to understand) because of its multiple income streams.

Tucker and Corby have worked exclusively for the Fowler team for several years—usually closing 30 to 40 deals a year with the firm—and says they’re always blazingly fast deals: The Dobie closed within 35 days. It came with an extra level of difficulty—Tucker and Corby obtained the financing assignment shortly after transitioning to Berkadia after several years at HFF. They’re in the process of revamping and growing Berkadia’s Houston office and bulking up its service lines, including expanding past its multifamily focus into office, industrial and retail.