Student housing property near University of Kentucky sold
JLL Capital Markets led the sales efforts for The Stretch, a 533-bed community in Lexington, Kentucky
DALLAS, Feb. 14, 2025 – JLL Capital Markets announced today the sale of The Stretch, a 170-unit, 533-bed student housing community in Lexington, Kentucky, serving the University of Kentucky.
JLL represented the seller, a joint venture between Campus Advantage and Tramview Capital Management, in the sale to GMH Communities.
Located at 1051 Red Mile Rd., just 0.64 miles from campus, The Stretch offers students a mix of two-, three- and four-bedroom units averaging 1,155 square feet. The property, built in 2009, features resort-style amenities including a clubhouse, pool, hot tub, fitness center, basketball/pickleball court, volleyball court, study rooms, tanning salon and outdoor grilling areas. Additionally, the community is close to a wide array of restaurants, entertainment venues and shopping areas.
The Stretch is currently 96% leased for the 2024-2025 academic year, with 10.8% year-over-year rent growth. This performance is supported by strong market fundamentals, with the University of Kentucky's enrollment increasing by 7% in 2024 and no off-campus student housing development in the pipeline.
The JLL Investment Sales and Advisory team was led by Managing Directors Teddy Leatherman and Scott Clifton, Director Kevin Kazlow and Associate Jack Goldberger.
"The Stretch represented an excellent investment opportunity in a thriving student housing market," said Leatherman. "Given the current undersupply of purpose-built student housing beds relative to demand, we anticipate continued strong occupancy rates and rent growth potential for The Stretch in the coming years."
JLL Capital Markets is a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. The firm's in-depth local market and global investor knowledge delivers the best-in-class solutions for clients — whether investment sales and advisory, debt advisory, equity advisory or a recapitalization. The firm has more than 3,000 Capital Markets specialists worldwide with offices in nearly 50 countries.
For more news, videos and research resources, please visit JLL’s newsroom.
About JLL
For over 200 years, JLL (NYSE: JLL), a leading global commercial real estate and investment management company, has helped clients buy, build, occupy, manage and invest in a variety of commercial, industrial, hotel, residential and retail properties. A Fortune 500® company with annual revenue of $20.8 billion and operations in over 80 countries around the world, our more than 111,000 employees bring the power of a global platform combined with local expertise. Driven by our purpose to shape the future of real estate for a better world, we help our clients, people and communities SEE A BRIGHTER WAYSM. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit jll.com.
About Campus Advantage
Campus Advantage® is a real estate investment management firm fostering financially prosperous, higher education student housing communities through its acquisition, property management and revenue management services. Campus Advantage has also partnered to create Centricity, which serves the real estate industry through managed services including HR, Payroll, IT, insurance, risk management and more. Catalyst, another division of Campus Advantage, serves the industry as a premier marketing agency focused on brands and digital marketing. Since its founding in 2003, Campus Advantage has been creating successful communities that provide rewarding living, learning and career experiences, and as a result has become one of the fastest growing private student housing companies in the nation. The company’s asset acquisition and management strategies combined with its dedication to residence life and student development have made Campus Advantage one of the largest student housing and property management companies in the United States. We believe the Future Lives Here. Learn more at www.campusadv.com, www.centricityres.com, and www.thelyst.com.
About Tramview Capital Management
Tramview Capital Management is a value-oriented real estate investment management firm focused on investing in institutional quality real estate in targeted growth markets across the U.S. Tramview leadership has overseen and managed approximately $5 billion of equity invested globally across property types and throughout the capital stack on behalf of institutional clients (e.g. pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, foundations), wealth management firms and high net worth individuals. For more information, please visit tramview.com.
About GMH Communities
Headquartered in Newtown Square, PA, GMH Communities is a dynamic, privately held real estate company specializing in the acquisition, development and management of exceptional living communities throughout the United States. Since 1985, GMH has participated in over 300 transactions representing more than $9.5 billion of gross asset value across all major property types. For more information, visit www.gmhcommunities.com