Two transactions in Charlottesville this fall illustrate how student housing is a lucrative global business with healthy cash flow fueled by households that can afford to pay premium prices for places to live.
In the past dozen years, three student-housing buildings—all valuable commodities for investors—have been constructed on West Main Street.
Madison Loft LLC sold The Flats at West Village in October 2025 for $107 million, a sum that is more than 16 percent over the assessed value. The 595-bedroom apartment complex is now run by the Scion Group, an operation that has more than 95,000 beds in 83 college towns across the world. Also included in the company’s portfolio is Lark on Main, which Scion purchased in April 2017 for $59.5 million…