Landmark Properties is entering the Minnesota market for the first time with its planned development of The Standard at Dinkytown, a 1,021-bed student housing community in a prime Minneapolis commercial district and within walking distance of the University of Minnesota.
Construction is slated to begin this year and be completed by the fall of 2025. The University of Minnesota has the ninth-largest, single-campus enrollment of any university in the United States, with more than 50,000 students enrolling each fall. It is one of only five universities in the U.S. with an engineering school, medical school, law school, veterinary medicine school and agricultural school all on one campus. The university’s pharmacy school is ranked third in the nation among public universities.
Located at 514 14th S Ave., the property will be in the heart of the university’s Greek Row. It will offer several floor plans, ranging from studio to five-bedroom apartments, with 30 affordable housing units. Apartment features will include a gourmet kitchen with quartz countertops, ample cabinet space, premium flooring and stainless-steel appliances. Every unit will be fully wired for high-speed internet and cable and will also have large closets, private baths and washers and dryers.
Community amenities will feature a resort-style outdoor pool area with a jumbotron, sun deck, cabanas, grilling stations and rooftop hot tub overlooking Minneapolis and the Mississippi River. Residents will also have access to a state-of-the-art fitness center, clubhouse with computer lab, gaming lounge, study lounge with café and Amazon package lockers. Students with vehicles can purchase access to a parking space in the covered garage that will also include dedicated scooter and bicycle spaces.
Landmark growth
Based in Athens, Ga., with an office in Atlanta, Landmark Properties has more than $10 billion in residential assets under management. The portfolio has more than 100 residential communities with more than 60,000 beds under management and construction. The company has a development pipeline with 20 student and multifamily projects under construction with an estimated value of nearly $4 billion.
In December, Landmark expanded its student housing portfolio with a build-to-core joint venture with Manulife Investment Management focused on developing and operating residential properties in targeted markets throughout the U.S. The joint venture’s first project is The Standard at Four Corners, an 890-bed community at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Conn., that will be ready for occupancy by August 2025. It’s the first of several pre-identified potential development opportunities for the joint venture with Toronto-based Manulife Investment Management, the global wealth and asset management segment of Manulife Financial Corp.
Earlier in 2022, Landmark formed a $1 billion platform with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority to acquire and operate a value-add student housing portfolio across the U.S. The two entities created a separate $2 billion joint venture for build-to-core student housing several months later.
Among the other student housing communities announced last year by Landmark was its third student housing project near the University of California, Berkeley. Slated for delivery by fall 2026, the development will have more than 300 units with floorplans ranging from studios to five-bedroom layouts.
