Capstone Real Estate Investments purchases apartment community in Akron, Ohio for $12.5 million

TAMPA, Fla. - Sept. 22, 2020 - PRLog -- Capstone Real Estate Investments, one of the nation's leading student housing owners and operators, has purchased a 471-bed apartment community near The University of Akron for $12,517,000. The community, called 22 Exchange, is a mixed-use student housing community with 142 units and more than 22,104 square feet of ground-floor retail.

Sean Baird, National Student Housing Group Director, and Jonathan Holt, National Student Housing Group Director, of Colliers International represented both parties as transaction brokers working alongside the Colliers Cleveland-Akron office. The seller is Rialto Capital Management.

At the time of sale, the community's living space was 89% occupied.

"The impact of COVID-19 on college campuses has made student housing deals more challenging in recent months, particularly with slower leasing velocity in April through June, and uncertainty about schools reopening," said Baird. "However, the residential and retail components, along with the location of the property, made this a good fit for the buyer."

22 Exchange is located two blocks west of The University of Akron and one block south of Canal Park, where the Akron RubberDucks minor-league baseball team plays. It's also within the Main Street Corridor, a downtown district that recently underwent a $31 million renovation. The community offers two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments with private rooms, high-end finishes and a number of amenities including a 24-hour fitness center and computer center.

"The community is perfectly located to take advantage of a live, work, play environment in Akron," said Holt. "Capstone's stellar history of in-house property management and repositioning assets will allow them to capitalize on the upside potential of 22 Exchange and improve leasing rates and velocity for both the residential and retail components of the property."

The University of Akron welcomed back students on August 24 and is offering classes in a variety of formats, including in-person, online and hybrid classes. Classrooms have been rearranged to meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines and students are asked to complete daily health checks before arriving on campus.