Radnor Property Group and the Madrone Community Development Foundation have secured construction financing for a new student housing community serving Spelman College and Morehouse College in Atlanta. The project is planned as a 305-unit development with 793 beds and is expected to welcome students by the fall 2028 academic term. The community is being positioned to directly support housing demand for students at the two historically Black colleges.
The capital stack for the development is anchored by approximately $146.8 million in tax-exempt and taxable bonds issued by the Development Authority of Fulton County. The bond sale was completed earlier in the month, providing the construction funding required to advance the project. The overall development budget is cited at $147 million, aligning closely with the bond issuance and underscoring the scale of the undertaking in the student housing segment.
As part of the structure for the project, Morehouse and Spelman colleges have entered into a 50-year lease agreement with Madrone Community Development Foundation. The long-term lease commitment ties the institutions directly to the new facility and is intended to secure dedicated housing for their students over multiple decades. This arrangement also provides the development with a stable, institution-backed occupancy framework, which can be important for long-duration bond financing.
The development team is led by Radnor Property Group, which is serving as the lead development partner. Clark Construction and CD Moody Construction are acting as construction manager through a joint venture, combining their capabilities for delivery of the project. Moody Nolan has been engaged as the architect, while Pape-Dawson is providing civil engineering services, rounding out a multidisciplinary team focused on design and execution.
On the capital markets side, Raymond James and Loop Capital Markets served as underwriters for the bond financing, marketing and placing the tax-exempt and taxable bonds issued by the Development Authority of Fulton County. The involvement of these underwriting firms reflects ongoing investor appetite for student housing tied to established higher education institutions, particularly where long-term lease agreements are in place.
When completed, the development is expected to offer beds at rents of about $1,200 per bed per month. This pricing level provides a benchmark for student housing costs in the immediate Spelman and Morehouse catchment area associated with the project. With construction already underway and a defined delivery target in 2028, the development represents a significant addition to purpose-built student housing capacity in Atlanta.
