Alpha Opportunity Zone Fund Acquires 342-Bed Student Housing Community in Lafayette, Louisiana

LAFAYETTE, LA - Alpha Capital Partners, a Pittsburgh based real estate investment and development firm, announced the acquisition of University Place, a 342-bed student housing community in Lafayette, Louisiana. 

With over 2,100- beds under management within Alpha’s student housing platform, University Place is Alpha’s 10th student housing community. This acquisition is the second of five identified projects in Alpha’s Opportunity Zone Fund. The Fund is a targeted $250 million fund launched in October 2018 to take part in the opportunity zone program implemented by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

University Place is located adjacent to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and is the closest student housing property to campus. It offers access to a private pedestrian bridge, which students can walk to university classrooms and facilities. The property also features a 24-hour fitness center, swimming pool with LED lighting, cybercafé with free printing and a host of other amenities. University Place is highly differentiated in that it offers a significant number of one- and two-bedroom units which are especially appealing to upperclassmen and graduate students.

Alpha’s development, property management, and marketing teams have begun to execute on its business plan to take advantage of the property's significant operational upside. 

According to Jide Famuagun, CEO of Alpha Capital Partners, “The upside of this property provides the opportunity to reposition the asset and resident experience through a value-add strategy supported by significant capital that would not have been possible without the opportunity zone program. University of Louisiana at Lafayette has witnessed record setting enrollment for five consecutive years, and I believe that with the expertise our team brings, we will be successful in repositioning and rebranding this asset. We look forward to reintroducing University Place to the Ragin’ Cajun community. Our team has been working on the opportunity zone concept since summer 2018 so we are very excited to acquire projects such as University Place into the Fund."