Fortress Acquires Second Student Housing Property for 1031 Exchange Program
Fortress Investment Group has completed its second acquisition for Fortress Real Estate Exchange, the firm’s Delaware statutory trust platform, acquiring University Village, a 600-bed student housing community that serves the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and North Carolina A&T State University. The purchase price has not been disclosed.
Built in 2007, the property spans 203 units and nearly 250,000 rentable square feet, sitting one block from the UNC Greensboro campus. Fortress said University Village has held close to 100% occupancy over the past four academic years, a run it attributed to enrollment growth at both schools and a lack of new supply. UNC Greensboro has grown enrollment more than 5% over the past two years, according to the company, while NC A&T has posted enrollment gains in each of the past 10 years; no new student housing has been built in Greensboro over the past decade. CLS Living, a third-party student housing manager, will continue to manage the property.
“University Village’s near 100% historical and in-place occupancy shows it has a longstanding appeal for students in Greensboro, and we believe that the increase in student enrollments at both UNC and NC A&T will support strong performance in the years ahead,” said Eli Edwards, Fortress’s U.S. head of real estate equity. “Against this backdrop, we are confident this is a great acquisition for the Fortress Real Estate Exchange platform, and we look forward to bringing Fortress’s real estate operating and asset-management experience to manage the property for the benefit of student residents and investors alike.”
Fortress launched Fortress Real Estate Exchange in March, describing it as a 1031-eligible DST program that gives advisers and their clients access to institutional-quality real estate on a tax-deferred basis, backed by the firm’s real estate investing and asset-management platform.
At the time of launch, Tim Sloan, Fortress’s global head of real estate, said the firm built the platform to give advisers “a tax-advantaged, real estate focused investment strategy” underpinned by Fortress’s institutional operating experience. David Hammerman, chief operating officer of real estate equity, described DSTs to advisers as an exit path for owners of smaller, actively managed properties who want fractional, passive exposure to institutional real estate without triggering a taxable event.
Two days after launch, Fortress closed the platform’s inaugural acquisition: Domain at Town Centre, a 912-bed, 336-unit Class A student housing community about a mile from West Virginia University in Morgantown. The property averaged 93% occupancy over four years, and Fortress similarly cited a lack of competing new supply near WVU and the university’s expansion plans as tailwinds. Fortress did not disclose the purchase price. Within the month, it launched FREX DB Series I DST, which seeks to raise approximately $40.18 million from accredited investors.
With University Village, Fortress Real Estate Exchange now holds two student housing assets. Fortress said the platform draws on its more than 20 years and $29 billion of real estate investment experience. The parent firm reported $55 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2026, across its credit, real estate, private equity, and permanent capital strategies.
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