Education Realty Trust Wins Three INNOVATOR Awards at Student Housing Business’ Interface Conference

Published on Wednesday, 20 April 2011 07:07 Written by TradersHuddle Staff

MEMPHIS, Tenn.-( Business Wire )-

Education Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE:EDR), one of the nation’s largest developers, owners and managers of collegiate housing, recently received three of the inaugural INNOVATOR Awards at the 2011 Interface Conference sponsored by Student Housing Business magazine. EDR won for Best Public/Private Partnership Development, Most Creative On-Campus Public/Private Financing and shared Best On-Campus Bandwidth/Connectivity Solution with its partner, Pavlov Media.

The Best Public/Private Partnership Development INNOVATOR Award was given to EDR for its “Residential Revival” at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP). For this project — which is the single-largest, privatized, student housing replacement program in the nation — EDR systematically created 3,516 beds to replace housing at the university without losing bed count.

Through this successful public/private partnership, 1.15 million square feet of suite-style accommodations in eight new living-learning and mixed-use buildings replaced 11 obsolete, outmoded dormitories during the four-phase project. EDR oversaw the entire process through design, financing and construction.

The new residences have been credited with greatly increasing applications and admissions. Enrollment at IUP is at an all-time high with an increase of more than 1,000 students — from 14,081 in 2005 to 15,086 in 2010.

“This nationally recognized project brings distinction to this university and complements our efforts to recruit and retain excellent students through our living-learning programs, all designed to ensure academic success,” said Dr. David Werner, interim president.

EDR received the INNOVATOR Award for Most Creative On-Campus Public/Private Financing for our creative financing approach to fill Syracuse University’s need for cutting-edge, upper-class housing to replace a 40-year-old, outmoded facility. The project became the foundation for EDR’s innovative On-Campus Equity Plan — The ONE Plan^SM — and allowed Syracuse to used EDR’s equity and financial stability to develop and revitalize their on-campus housing.

Using private-equity financing allowed Syracuse University to retain its borrowing capacity for academic buildings and a library. The 50% EDR equity allowed financing to be consummated despite the deteriorating national economy and financing market at the time. The balance of the project was funded with a conventional construction loan with EDR being the guarantor.

EDR helped keep rents affordable by obtaining a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreement with the city. Affordability for students also was enhanced via more than $100,000 in state incentives for energy efficiency in this LEED Gold-rated community. University Village Apartments on Colvin was completed both on time and on budget, with EDR overseeing the entire process through design, financing and construction.

Based on this success, EDR has executed several ONE Plan projects and has another under way at Syracuse University.

EDR shares the INNOVATOR Award for Best On-Campus Bandwidth/Connectivity Solution with internet partner and contractor, Pavlov Media, for work the two companies completed together to solve a bandwidth problem at University Village Apartments on Colvin at the University of Syracuse.

In 2008, when EDR began construction of this community, the only internet connection available to that area of campus was a DS3 circuit that provided a maximum of only 45M of bandwidth to the apartments. Based on daily bandwidth usage comparisons at all 50+ communities EDR and Pavlov service across the country, this bandwidth capacity should have satisfied the residents’ needs. However, residents began to complain about slow internet access and download times in September 2010.

EDR’s and Pavlov’s objective was to provide bandwidth and technological capabilities their residents needed to complete their studies, conduct business and enjoy recreational activities on the internet and to provide this fast access without limiting residents to one or two internet devices — which is a common policy among many other collegiate housing providers.

EDR immediately formed a Resolution Team to investigate the problem, find a suitable solution and create communications to keep the residents informed of the research and improvement progress.

By October, EDR made the business decision to invest approximately $68,000 to pull fiber-optic cable one-half mile and provide 100 mb of bandwidth with a new circuit that would be scalable to several gigabits to allow for future growth. We also contracted with a company that could provide a six-week turnaround to get the task accomplished by year end meeting our targeted goal for the students. The upgrade was completed on time and with no cost increase to the residents.

The INNOVATOR Awards were conceived, sponsored and executed by Student Housing Business magazine (SHB) to honor excellence in development, architecture/design, sustainable design and development, finance, marketing and promotion, furniture and amenities in student housing properties, on- and off-campus. The first annual awards were presented at the SHB Interface Conference April 13, 2011 in Austin, Texas.

“As our business sector continues to increase its footprint in the marketplace, we are proud to be recognized as leaders in our industry, as these prestigious awards signify,” said Randy Churchey, president and chief executive officer of Education Realty Trust. “I am proud of our team and the creative ways they work every day to solve problems and make good things happen for our clients and our company.”

For a complete review of the winning entries along with photographs, please go to the Education Realty Trust web site or click here: http://www.edrtrust.com/documents/EDR_Innovates.pdf.

About Education Realty Trust

Education Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE:EDR) is one of America's largest owners, developers and managers of collegiate housing. EDR is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust that – with these new or extended management contracts -- owns or manages 56 communities in 23 states with nearly 34,000 beds within more than 10,500 units. For more information please visit the company's web site at www.educationrealty.com.

About Pavlov Media

Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Champaign, Illinois, Pavlov Media is one of the nation’s largest private providers of broadband services (Video, Data and Voice) to multi-family real estate owners. In addition the company, through its citywide and regional networks, offers commercial grade services in several of its larger markets. Pavlov operates in 70 markets throughout the country. For information regarding the company, please visit their web site at www.pavlovmedia.com.

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Education Realty TrustRandall H. Brown, 901-259-2500Executive Vice President, CFO & Treasurerrbrown@edrtrust.comorEducation Realty TrustSusan Jennings, 901-259-2506Public This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.