42-Bed Portfolio

42-Bed Student Housing Portfolio located near the main campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Lehigh University is one of the nation’s premier research universities with a rigorous academic curriculum on a vibrant, mountainside campus.

The portfolio includes 9 single-family houses centered around Montclair Avenue. The properties are strategically scattered in some of the most sought-after locations by students living off campus. Each property is located within a short walk of Lehigh’s Campus. Situated on the South Side of Bethlehem, the geography poses significant barriers to entry for any new development projects. In addition, the city continues to make it more difficult for houses to be purchased and turned into student housing unless they are within a certain zone or have already been grandfathered into the system. The homes in this Portfolio consist of (3) four-bedroom and (6) five-bedroom homes. All of the properties feature modern, fully equipped kitchens with spacious living areas.

Since announcing the Path to Prominence and subsequent GO Campaign, Lehigh University officially increased enrollment by adding over 100 students yearly since the 2019-20 Fall Semester. Lehigh is in the process of making upgrades around campus, which will accommodate the planned increase of 1,000± undergraduate students and 500 graduate students over the next decade. Multiple construction projects are underway on campus including the Health, Science, and Technology Building, a modern 195,000-square-foot building, and the renovation of the University Center. In addition, the College of Business and Economics is expanding with a new 60,000-square-foot building catty-corner to the Rauch Business Center. Expansion plans call for the existing Rauch Business Center to be expanded and renovated. Further, Lehigh is planning on recruiting 100 new faculty members to go hand in hand with the student and campus expansion.

Currently, Lehigh University requires that all first and second-year undergraduate students live on campus while third-, fourth-, and fifth-year undergraduate and graduate students can live off-campus. Students primarily choose to rent four– or five-bedroom single-family or row homes from small or mom-and-pop operators. An affluent student body combined with a lack of quality on-campus and off-campus housing options presents the opportunity with this Portfolio to capture strong, pent-up demand. The local government, the makeup of the neighborhood, and the size of the University all pose significant barriers to entry for major new developments. With over 3,000 students living off-campus, the Portfolio captures less than 1% of the total market demand.