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American Campus Communities CEO Bill Bayless was a resident assistant in college and has never left the campus environment.  Bill (here with his wife Jamie) tells us he got into student housing right out of college because he loved the idea of impacting an emerging industry. (Few people were in the sector in the '80s.) He's spent his entire career in student housing, including co-founding ACC in 1993. He tells us his most challenging deal was taking the firm public in '04 (the first student housing company to do so). It was the first time Wall Street was exposed to student housing as a mainstream investment, and there were no metrics or data. (We picture the SEC watching Animal House in lieu of having financial charts.)  Bill says ACC's scale today is beyond anything he ever imagined. Since '96, it's developed over $4.2B and acquired over $4.6B in student housing assets. It boasts over 3,000 employees, 165 communities owned in 42 states, and 199 properties under third-party management. (Combined, they house nearly 250,000 students.) He's particularly proud of how ACC has become a benchmark in the industry, especially for on-campus private housing. The firm has some big projects ongoing in this arena, including one under development at Princeton.  Outside of work, Bill (smiling with his granddaughter) likes being involved in health and fitness, including frequenting the gym his son owns. He loves golf, but his handicap isn't great, which is probably one of the reasons ACC has been so successful. He tells us his personal motto is "if it's to be, it's up to me." One of his coaches growing up said it to remind him he controls his own destiny. He passed that on to his children, repeating it so often that his son got it tattooed on his arm. (A mixed blessing for Bill, since he doesn't like tattoos.) |
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Which Niche is 95% Occupied? |
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 Finding available, quality retail in San Antonio is like finding an empty parking spot on the Riverwalk on Saturday night: not impossible, but it takes some creativity. The Retail Connection EVP Nick Altomare tells us San Antonio isn't unique to this dilemma; it exists across all major Texas markets. More often, the solution to the problem is new development, he says. Heavily anchored product is around 5% vacant across San Antonio. The challenge: the disconnect between the new product coming online and current demand expectations. Some new construction is slated, but they're two or three years from delivery. (People have played too much Sim City and forgot that building things actually takes time.) |
 A good example of getting creative is Panera, Nick tells us. The restaurant chain struggled to find quality endcap locations with a drive-through capability in the desired trade areas. So the company has turned to site acquisition over leasing and ground-up construction of its new restaurants (paired with a raspberry vinegarette). Beyond sandwiches and salads, Nick thinks holiday shopping in San Antonio and South Texas will have modest growth over last year of around 2% to 3%. Nick is packing up the family and heading to the Gaylord Texan resort in the Dallas area to spend the holiday with his wife's family. |
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Texas Back in the Data Center Game Just a few years ago, Texas was eliminated from the short list of potential data center development because of a lack of tax incentives, CBRE VP for the data center solutions group David Liggitt said at the Bisnow Data Center Investment Conference and Expo (DICE) West in Dallas last week. (Some 250 joined us from California to Philadelphia to hear about national data center trends.) But that's all about to change because this year, the Legislature enacted a new law that should attract more development.  451 Research senior analyst Glenn Ford says providers are often specializing in areas like healthcare or financial services. (The Internet is a scary place if you don't have a focus.) They also differentiate themselves technically, operationally, and environmentally. He says data center activity is going strong locally--Digital Realty acquired a six-building campus in Austin; CyrusOne is building its second data center in San Antonio; and Stream is building in San Antonio.  Event sponsor Georgetown's Mark Thomas (left, with PECO's Desiree Miller and Edward Piscopo) tells us the city just north of Austin has a 52-acre site just adjacent to the 380k SF Citigroup Data Center that is turnkey data center space. For the right deal, the occupant could get 100% renewable power at non-renewable power rates. |
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This Morning at Greenbuild |
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 This morning, we hit the floor at Greenbuild, the USGBC's annual expo, being held this year in Philly. Within a few minutes, we ran into Rob Watson (right), aka "the Father of LEED." (Not to be confused with the Pope, who is the leader of fathers.) He was a founding chairman of the USGBC and even coined the term LEED back in '96. These days, he's running ECON Group, a firm formed this year that helps buildings remain sustainable after certification. He was joined by Dynamic Air Quality's Martin Cummins and SKF Global's Steve Friedlander. |
 The folks at the USGBC tell us over 20,000 are expected to pack in the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Center City. If you're on the floor today or tomorrow, make sure to give our DC reporter Chris Baird a shout! |
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