Campus Advocate Winter 2023 - Campus Advantage

Mike Peter, founder and CEO of Campus Advantage.

At Campus Advantage, we like to kick off the year with motivation, learning, and celebration by inviting our corporate team and general managers from around the country to our annual FOCUS Conference. This year’s theme was “Elevate Your Future,” and I couldn’t be prouder of a team so committed to ensuring the success of Campus Advantage and our communities.

Perhaps the biggest highlight of FOCUS week is capping off with the CAmmy Awards — a special night honoring our team’s many accomplishments. I congratulate all of our award recipients, including our 2023 Home Office Employee of the Year, Peter Jbeili, and sincerely applaud all who are part of this organization.

While the overall economy continues to settle out the ripples of inflation, we’re pleased to observe yet again the resilience of the student housing industry. Leasing is outperforming all known historical averages, and the industry at large appears to be enjoying another record year of pre-leasing. Many of the yard-200 universities and colleges had record applications last year, and 2023 looks to be much of the same regarding interest in these top-tier institutions of higher education.

The investment market has slowed for now, but that only means demand is being pent up. We see the previously spiking interest rates starting to make more moderate moves by the Federal Reserve, and there has never been a better time to position yourself in a private equity fund to be able to capitalize on the opportunity just over the horizon. Please reach out to us to inquire further about our fund.

With spring mercifully around the corner, we have much to be thankful for, and this year is a big one — our 20th anniversary of partnering with our clients and raising the bar of excellence in this industry is coming up on March 3. Look for a special edition of this publication as we honor this milestone in a big way. From company-wide celebrations and special events to creating space for reflection and gratitude, this year will be one to remember.

Mike Peter, President and CEO

THE 2023 CAMMY AWARDS

Campus Advantage and Catalyst employees celebrating Thanksgiving

As always, FOCUS Conference week was capped off with our annual CAmmy Awards, which celebrated the 2022 achievements and successes of our properties, teams, and individuals.

Congratulations to all our winners! Here are just a few highlights:

Property of the Year (Over 500 Beds): Forum at Denton Station
Property of the Year (Under 500 Beds): Paseo Place
Regional Manager of the Year: Jaclyn Taaffe
General Manager of the Year: Miranda Mejia

This year’s CAmmy Awards also featured the second-annual Goldie Awards presented by Catalyst:

24K: Amber Pasquarelli
18K: Haley Drinkwater
14K: Carmen Erdie
Property: UnionWest
Individual: Dan Oltersdorf

2022 Employee of the Year, Peter Jbeili, had this to say: “I’m just so lucky to have such incredible peers, co-workers, and everyone I work with. We have such a great team here at Campus Advantage… There’s so many people that I can shout-out as being such a tremendous impact on all of our initiatives. I’m so excited for all of the success that we’re going to have this coming year, and I’m just excited to see the growth of Campus Advantage.”

CAMPUS ADVANTAGE AND CATALYST MARKETING ANNOUNCE SCHOLARSHIP

Campus Advantage and Catalyst Marketing are proud to announce the inaugural Future Lives Here Scholarship. This scholarship captures our combined mission to create successful communities and invest in the futures of our residents for years to come. We believe in providing exceptional living experiences and useful resources to help students achieve their goals. As a result, this year’s scholarship winner will receive $5,000 for the 2023–2024 school year, as well as a commemorative NFT.

To learn more and apply today, click the link below.

Learn More

PROPERTY SPOTLIGHT: UNIONWEST

Located in the Innovation District of downtown Orlando, UnionWest is a 121-unit, 641-bed student housing community serving the University of Central Florida Downtown and Valencia College Downtown Campuses in Creative Village. UCF, in partnership with Valencia College, opened a full-service shared campus at Creative Village in August 2019, representing a campus for nearly 8,000 students.

Now managed by Campus Advantage, the convenient location offers students a vibrant urban lifestyle complete with contemporary living spaces, Orlando skyline views, restaurant options, student services, classes, and a first-rate amenities package. To stay in line with the demand for student housing in Orlando, the community will be increasing bed count this year to accommodate the enrollment growth of the University of Central Florida and Valencia College.

UnionWest also took home several wins at this year’s CAmmy Awards, including:

Overcoming The Odds
100% Club
Catalyst Goldie – Property Award

“While UnionWest has come with a lot of unforeseen challenges, being able to be here and effectively build a community that the students feel happy and thrive in is such a fulfilling experience,” said Paige McCarthy, Property Manager. “We are able to create relationships with not only the residents but also all the faculty and staff at both the universities we work with that will help us in the future of UW.”

New Hires and Promotions

Welcome to the Team

Kristy Johnson — Director of Brand Strategy, Catalyst

Promotions

Melissa Hinton — Senior Regional Manager
Miranda Mejia — Traveling Operations Specialist

Student Housing Investments

Student housing’s recession-resilience makes it a solid investment to buffer your portfolio during times of economic uncertainty. If you, or someone you know, is interested in participating in our private fund, please inquire. Campus Advantage specializes in all aspects of student housing — operations, marketing, consulting, development, and acquisition — and has delivered excellent returns for over a decade. Learn more about our investment fund opportunity.

We’re Hiring!

Do you know a passionate, motivated individual who wants to be part of a company that encourages, supports, and inspires employees to achieve their full potential? One that is committed to cultivating and developing a diverse and inclusive culture? A culture that also believes in taking our work and our communities, but not ourselves, seriously?

At Campus Advantage, our team is the core of our success. We hire based on experience and character, keeping an eye to diversity, equity, and inclusion for everyone. We seek out new team members who are passionate about making raving fans of our residents and clients — and having fun while doing so!

If you know someone who fits this description and would like to be part of a team who loves what they do, check out our open positions and send them our way!

View Open Positions

EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHTS

CHRIS NORDIN LEADS WITH CONSISTENCY AND EFFICIENCY

A lot has happened for Chris Nordin since joining Campus Advantage a year ago as a Controller. His department has experienced some transition, he was promoted to Director of Property Accounting, he’s been an integral part of ensuring employee retention occurs, and he has taken a significant lead on the company’s migration to Entrata. Chris’ role is to support, review, and ensure the timely and accurate preparation of financial statements and account reconciliations for assigned properties, and to assist operating units with analysis and process improvement.

JENNA FOSTER IS ALL ABOUT THE LIV+ LEASES

Since joining Campus Advantage three years ago as a Community Assistant, Jenna Foster has served at a handful of communities within the CA portfolio, but she wouldn’t have it any other way as it’s contributed to her leadership pathway in management. In August 2022, she transitioned to Liv+ Arlington in Texas as Leasing Manager. In this role, Jenna is responsible for monitoring staff, overseeing leasing and marketing performance, fostering university relationships, implementing policy and procedures, and more.