The economy may be slumping, but teenagers and 20-year-olds keep attending college.
That’s helped Smith, Gambrell & Russell partner Mac Young maintain a steady stream of work for his client, Place Properties LP, which develops, finances and builds housing for college students.
One recent transaction Young handled was for a new on-campus housing facility at Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville. Place Enterprises Development, an affiliate of Place Properties, arranged for the sale of $100 million in tax-exempt bonds to finance the dorms. The bonds were sold by the Georgia Gwinnett College Foundation and also involved the state Board of Regents. The bond sale closed on March 23. The new dorms are expected to open in the fall of 2010, Young said.
Smith Gambrell associate Jonathan Gallant worked with Young on the transaction. Young’s liaison at Place Properties is their general counsel, Jennifer Hill. King & Spalding partner Bill Holby was bond counsel and McKenna Long & Aldridge partner Tom Lauth was underwriters counsel to Citigroup Inc.
Also last month, Young advised Place Properties on arranging a $154.6 million financing deal for the construction of off-campus housing projects across the U.S. The financing involves eight separate lenders, Young said. The facilities will be built at off-campus sites near eight different colleges, including Texas A&M University, the University of Texas-San Antonio and the University of Central Oklahoma. In addition to arranging the financing, Place is also the developer of these housing projects, Young said.