Landmark Properties grows student housing portfolio with latest Austin purchase

A Georgia-based multifamily developer has beefed up its Austin portfolio with the purchase of a mid-rise tower for student housing off of West Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Landmark Properties Inc., which already owned six student housing properties in Austin, purchased Pointe on Rio at 1901 Rio Grande St. for an undisclosed amount, according to a May 1 announcement.

The student population at the University of Texas has not changed significantly since 2014, when Pointe on Rio was built. Still, there has been an increase in off-campus housing development in recent years, and UT has one of the most active pipelines in the country, according to commercial real estate research firm Yardi Matrix. 

The property’s seller was not disclosed. According to the Travis Central Appraisal District, however, 19 Rio Partners LP has owned it since July 2013, and records indicate the limited partnership shares an address with Skyline Builders at 4801 Spicewood Springs Road. 

Tim Bradley and Shawn Sweeney of TSB Capital Advisors assisted Landmark with debt and equity on the deal. Kevin Larimer of Berkadia was the investment sales broker.

The property was most recently appraised at $41.8 million for tax purposes, although the market value of a property often exceeds its value on tax rolls. For instance, the city of Austin recently purchased Tokyo Electron’s Southeast Austin campus for $87 million, when that property was appraised at $53.3 million in 2024.

Pointe on Rio will be renamed Tradition on Rio. The property, which is 94% leased heading into the fall 2024 semester, has 122 units accommodating 321 beds. Floor plans range from studio to five-bedroom layouts. 

Aside from Pointe on Rio, Landmark owns six other off-campus student housing developments in Austin totaling 3,769 beds.

Student housing is a hot commodity surrounding campus, and several new developments have cropped up in recent years. According to Yardi Matrix, the university has 3,460 beds under construction, second only to the University of Tennessee’s 3,961 beds. 

Recent development’s include MDL Group’s Icon project and a pair of towers from LV Collective, which has developed multiple towers in the area surrounding campus. In related real estate news, The Bascom Group purchased the 53-unit Texan 26 student housing project. 

The boom in student housing is underway despite only a small uptick in UT's student population in recent years. According to university data, 52,384 students attended the school in 2022, the latest year data was available, compared to 51,313 students in 2014 — when Pointe on Rio was built — and 49,996 students in 2000.