It’s an exciting time in the student housing market because student apartment buildings are no longer just places for undergraduates to live. With the rising trend of upscale student housing, we at Colliers see a substantial want and need for businesses within these student housing developments. Robyn A. Friedman, from The Wall Street Journal, has seen this trend and interviewed a few key speakers on the topic.
She writes, “The changes reflect a desire among students for services close at hand. ‘In addition to wanting to live close to campus, students also increasingly seek convenient access to restaurants, coffee shops and other retail stores,’ said Brian Veith, assistant director of student housing for the National Multifamily Housing Council in Washington. ‘Developers are responding to student demand.’”
This article and recent trends in other states indicate that Hawaii’s student housing developments could see a big change over the next decade. We at Colliers believe this change is for the better and we can’t wait to see where it goes.