Watch : Real Estate Forums

Student Housing with Henry Morton of Campus Suites

Coming to you from the Canadian Apartment Investment Conference, Henry Morton, President of Campus Suites. Henry Morton has previously (co) developed, or is developing over 14,500 student housing and conventional bedroom units and 200,000 sq. ft. of retail development in nine States and four Provinces with a value of over $1.25B. His property management company simultaneously managed in excess of 4,500 leases and a total of some 17,000 leases. Projects developed by him have won awards such as the Portal of Excellence and, additionally, as “The Top Apartment Community” in Florida, and the National Association of Home Builders Pillar of the Industry Award – Student Housing for The Varsity in College Park, Maryland. Communities developed by him have won awards in virtually every market in which he has developed and/or managed.In addition, a recent project developed by him is the winner of the service delivery category of the Canadian Council of public Private Partnerships – a national organization. He was also named a Pioneer of the Industry, an award given out to 25 individuals who helped to establish the modern student housing industry in the U.S.

Henry describes how student housing has changed throughout his career, along with major differences he sees between the US and Canada. He explains his vision for student housing and talks about challenges faced in the space.

Topics covered include:

The evolution of student housing.
Why Henry shifted from the USA to Canada.
Why student housing isn’t like an apartment building.
Amenity inflation and “tricked out” suites.
Challenges of financing in the student housing sector.
The demise of “chopped up houses” accomodation for students.
Markets that have gone from underserved to overdeveloped.
The role of community assistants at Campus Suites’ properties.
Expectations that students want in the US versus Canada.
Henry’s philosophy on the proper suite structure.
Rental prices on both private and shared units.
Better treatment of units in Canada when compared to the US.
Safety issues that Henry has seen over the years.
What lenders want to see before providing funds.
The differences between the provinces.

This episode of Commercial Real Estate Podcast powered by First National was recorded live at the Canadian Apartment Investment Conference as part of our Forum Series.

Recorded at: Canadian Apartment Investment Conference

Real Estate Forums have teamed up with Adam Powadiuk and Aaron Cameron of First National Financial to produce live podcasts at conferences and forums around the country. Each episode features guests that include industry titans, innovators and game changers. Listen to podcasts recorded live at the Real Estate Forums and Conferences from our website and look out for them at events throughout the year!