The light shining on the student housing market was even brighter in 2016 as transaction sales volume continued its six-year run of record volume. Transaction sales were hardly the only positive sign: cap rates were down, price per bed was up, new investors have flocked to the market and occupancies were very strong. But looking forward, what will 2017 and beyond hold for the student housing market?
The best insight into answering this question, as well as any other issue facing student housing investors, owners and operators, will be found at the 15th annual 2017 NMHC Student Housing Conference. Hosted by the National Multifamily Housing Council, this year’s conference is taking place September 25-27 in sunny Tampa, Fla., where we’ll overlook the bay at the Marriott Waterside and Marina Hotel.
Our conference perennially offers informative sessions on key topics and plenty of quality networking opportunities, but this year we’re giving attendees even more. So, whether you’re a conference veteran or a newbie, here are a few things to look forward to this year.
- More can’t-miss content. Given the demand for more data and insight, we’re expanding our program to cover more topics. For our finance and investment types, there are now more breakout panels to go deeper inside the key decisions that owners and investors make in placing their money. And for the COO side of the business, we also have added new sessions to examine key operational and risk management topics such as cybersecurity, marketing and rebranding, leveraging your investment in technology and managing the safety of your residents and properties.
- Fast pitches with DealTank. Don’t miss this crowd favorite as we bring in a new slate of entrepreneurs to pitch new investment deals to a group of industry veterans in the DealTank. For the first time, we will also get updates from proposals that were presented in last year’s DealTank session. Think you’ve got what it takes? If you want to swim in the tank and pitch a deal to the sharks please enter your proposal at http://www.nmhc.org/dealtank/.
- Inspiring keynoter. Our keynote speaker this year, Coach Ken Carter, is familiar to many of us with thanks to both the story and film about how he literally locked his undefeated, state playoff-bound team out of the gym, forcing them to hit the books and stop counting on athletic potential as the only ticket out of a tough, inner city life. Today he is an author, founder and chairman of the Coach Ken Carter Foundation Coach, where he offers hard-hitting advice about accountability, integrity, teamwork and leadership to succeed both on and off the basketball court.
- What students really want. The lifeblood of our business is to attract and serve the student population at universities nationwide. But how well do we really understand what drives their decisions on where to live? Test your assumptions with our brand-new student spotlight session. Drawing from two nearby campuses, the University of South Florida and the University of Central Florida, we’re assembling a group of students who live in a variety of student housing offerings to tell us what motivated them to live where they do—and what, if anything, would they do different, if they had to do it all over again?
This has been just a small sample of what the conference will cover. As the NMHC Student Housing Conference chair, I am excited about the expansion of our offerings and opportunities. I’d love for you to join us and see why the industry has deemed it the student housing conference of the year.
More information and registration details are available at www.nmhc.org/SHC.
See you in Tampa!
Bob Clark
CEO, Peak Campus
Chair, NMHC Student Housing Conference