Virtual Deal Simulator
The Summer Gap: Financing The Yard at Ashcombe
480 beds, one flagship university, and a pre-leasing number that three lenders will read three very different ways.
You’ll Practice
- Read pre-leasing velocity as the central risk driver in student housing construction-to-perm underwriting, not just cost and schedule risk
- Calculate a pre-leasing percentage and interpret it against the 90%+ conversion thresholds construction lenders typically require before burning down recourse
- Compare a bank, a debt fund, and an agency forward-commitment lender on how their pre-leasing/DSCR conversion tests, recourse burn-down, and rate-lock mechanics interact with actual leasing pace
- Assemble a construction-to-perm submission package for student housing, distinguishing sector-specific proof points from generic or mismatched documents
- Evaluate a sponsor's contingency plan and balance sheet capacity for closing a pre-leasing gap before a hard conversion date
- Protect a rate lock and a deal's leverage profile when a late GMP overage threatens to blow up the closing timeline
The Lead: The Yard at Ashcombe
Derek Voss, Managing Principal of Voss Collegiate Partners, has called about financing for The Yard at Ashcombe — a 120-unit, 480-bed purpose-built off-campus student housing project rising four-tenths of a mile from Ashcombe State University's main gate. Ashcombe State enrolls roughly 41,000 students and has chronically under-supplied purpose-built beds; Derek has delivered three similar projects near the campus since 2019 and knows the market cold. Groundbreaking was in March 2026. He's targeting delivery by August 1, 2027 — ahead of Fall 2027 move-in — and needs a construction-to-permanent loan to fund the build and convert cleanly into long-term debt once the property stabilizes. The number that will decide everything is pre-leasing: how many of the 480 beds are signed, and how fast that number is moving toward whatever threshold a construction lender sets for releasing recourse and completing the takeout.
- Property
- The Yard at Ashcombe — 120 units / 480 beds
- Location
- 0.4 miles from Ashcombe State University (enrollment ~41,000)
- Sponsor
- Derek Voss, Managing Principal, Voss Collegiate Partners (3 prior purpose-built deliveries)
- Total development cost
- $61,500,000 ($128,125/bed)
- Requested construction loan
- $40,000,000 (65% LTC)
- Sponsor equity
- $21,500,000 (35%)
- Average rent
- $895/bed/month, 11.5-month individual leases with parental/guardian guaranty
- Groundbreaking
- March 2026
- Targeted delivery
- August 1, 2027 (ahead of Fall 2027 semester move-in)
- Pre-leasing snapshot
- 372 of 480 beds signed as of the May 1, 2027 lender site visit