GMH Capital Partners of Newtown Square, PA Announces Joint Venture With Principal Real Estate Investors To Pursue Student Housing Acquisition Opportunities Nationwide

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa., Jan. 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- GMH Capital Partners, ("GMH") headquartered in Newtown Square, PA, is pleased to announce the formation of a strategic joint venture with Principal Real Estate Investors to pursue student housing opportunities in various markets throughout the United States.  The partnership will target up to $650 million worth of acquisitions in the next 12 – 18  months across three asset categories in student housing – Existing Core Communities, Value-Add and Development.

Previously, GMH's College Park Communities division was the largest student housing company in the country, servicing nearly 70,000 beds across 29 states before its sale in 2008.   After exiting the REIT, GMH concentrated its focus on acquiring, operating and developing conventional multi-family assets.  In addition, GMH diversified its holdings by forming GMH Ventures which focuses on opportunistic controlling interest in operating companies in the healthcare, media and financial services industries.

"We have been closely monitoring the student housing industry over the past several years and felt that the current landscape was ideal for an entry back into the space," said Gary M. Holloway, Jr., president of GMH Capital Partners.  "We are ecstatic to be partnered with a first class, widely respected institutional equity partner like Principal Real Estate Investors.  We are actively pursuing all three asset fronts with our first deal expected to close in just a few weeks.  Justin Glasgow of DTZ's (formerly Cassidy Turley's) Washington, DC office assisted GMH in its quest for the right partner," finished Holloway.

"We feel the fundamentals in the student housing sector are quite strong," said Jim Halliwell, Managing Director, acquisitions and dispositions at Principal Real Estate Investors. "Partnering with a first class operator that has tremendous organizational depth and a long history in the business is a key ingredient for success. We look forward to a great relationship with the GMH team."

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About GMH Capital Partners:
GMH Capital Partners, under the umbrella of parent company GMH Associates, Inc., is a dynamic real estate company specializing in the acquisition, development, and management of high-quality residential and commercial properties throughout the United States. GMH has achieved extraordinary success through a hands-on approach that produces outstanding results for its clients and partners.  GMH is a company of many dimensions that assures our properties are well leased, well constructed and well positioned in the marketplace, and that every asset performs to the highest possible standards. Since 1985 this philosophy has led to tremendous growth for GMH resulting in the investment in over 300 properties representing more than $5.5 billion of gross asset value across all major property types.

About Principal Real Estate Investors:
Principal Real Estate Investors manages or sub-advises $54.3 billion in commercial real estate assets[1]. The firm's real estate capabilities include both public and private equity and debt investment alternatives. Principal Real Estate Investors is the dedicated real estate group of Principal Global Investors, a diversified asset management organization and a member of the Principal Financial Group^®.

[1] As of Sept. 30, 2014.

SOURCE GMH Capital Partners

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