Inland American Communities kicked off 2015 with the acquisition of the former Asbury Green (rebranded as University House), just a block away from the University of Denver’s 125-acre campus in Denver. IAC president Travis Roberts (here, with his kiddos, 10-year-old Peyton and 6-year-old Parker) says IAC (the student housing arm of Inland American REIT) has been in growth mode with plans to acquire between $200M and $300M this year, in addition to completing the handful of development projects in the works.

The five-story, 355-bed apartment community (which is LEED Gold certified) was recently updated with a clubhouse, rec center, billiards game room and 24-hour fitness center. This project fits IAC’s MO well, Travis says. It’s a Class-A, purpose-built student housing project that’s close to campus. The University of Denver is a little smaller than IAC’s average student population of about 33,000 students, but there are only so many ASUs and University of Michigan campuses around. Additionally, this project is one of a few student housing projects in the area. CBRE repped IAC in the Denver deal.

IAC typically delivers three or four projects a year on the development side, Travis says. In 2015, there will be three: the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, Arizona State University and Georgia Tech (pictured is University House Midtown near Georgia Tech, which is topping out today and is over 50% pre-leased.) Now, IAC is filling out its 2017 roster of projects with some slotted to come online in 2016. Developing projects can take a year or two while buying existing product can be done much more quickly, Travis tells us. Most of IAC’s communities are marketed under the University House brand, with more than 10,000 beds within 20 communities in 13 states. Travis says about 75% of these were developed in-house and the remaining 25% were acquisitions. Travis’ New Year’s resolution: keep a good balance between family and work obligations.