RCA in the commercial property press:

Empty condos give universities new dorm space

Associated Press reports: River views, granite countertops, stainless-steel appliances, 9-foot ceilings. This is student housing?

When classes start this fall — if all goes as planned — more than 300 students at Johnson & Wales University will be living in Capitol Cove, an upscale condominium project that had been languishing on the Providence, RI market for more than six months.

"It's a great Band-Aid," said Irving Schneider, president of Johnson & Wales's Providence campus, which just signed a three-year lease for the Capitol Cove development. "This arrangement was good for the developer as well as Johnson & Wales."

Some universities around the country have found a silver lining to the real estate recession that has left condominium developers in the lurch. For less time and money than it would take to build a residence hall, universities in places like New York City and Ohio are buying or leasing entire condo projects. And they are also eyeing vacant lots once targeted for high-end condos for use as retail and parking.

"This is a bonanza of an opportunity ... for universities to acquire the space they desperately need," said Dan Fasulo, managing director of Real Capital Analytics.

For developers, such deals save their projects from being total washouts. The arrangements offer builders an exit strategy from flagging projects, allowing them to unload dozens of unsold units to a single buyer rather than piecemeal.