The Jolly Roger

1307 Cotanche Street, Greenville, NC, 27858, US

Asset Description

Jones Lang LaSalle Americas, Inc. ("JLL") is pleased to present Jolly Roger (the "Property"), a 294 unit, 804 bed, 2021 vintage student housing community serving East Carolina University ("ECU" or the "University"). The Property is the best-in-class asset in the ECU market and is performing as such, reaching 98% preleasing by May while growing rents – the first property to reach 95%+ in the market. Despite the fastest leasing velocity, newest vintage, and clear top quality in the market, rents at Jolly Roger are at a discount to older vintage competitors, giving new ownership the opportunity to mark rents to the top of the market.

ECU is primed for years of enrollment growth during new ownership's hold period. In the past two years, the University has grown first-year enrollment by over 6% and applications by 23%. Retention rate also grew nearly 3% over that time. These factors create runway for sustained enrollment growth, which began in 2024. With no planned developments in the pipeline, fundamentals will grow stronger and Jolly Roger will remain the best asset in the market.

Jolly Roger offers additional upside via increased parking charges and improved expense management. The Property is a rare opportunity to acquire a trophyquality asset with significant upside across rents, property operations, and university growth.

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Attributes

Year built

2021

Number of units

294

Beds

804

Media

Investment Highlights

INSTITUTIONAL QUALITY, TROPHY ASSET

» Jolly Roger is the newest asset at ECU and shows significantly better than its competitors

» Concrete and steel construction with modern brick exterior offers best-in-class appearance and construction quality

» Only rooftop pool in ECU market

98% PRE-LEASED WITH RENT GROWTH

» Velocity leads entire ECU market

» 98% pre-leased with 2% rent growth offers new ownership runway to push rents further

GROWTH ACROSS UNIVERSITY DEMOGRAPHICS

» ECU has grown first-year enrollment 6.2%, applicants 23%, and retention rate 1.7% over the past two years

» Enrollment grew in 2024, with 7% out-of-state enrollment growth

» Growth to these demographics will lead to substantial growth as smaller classes are phased out

EMPTY DEVELOPMENT PIPELINE

» 0 planned developments

» Market average rents of $700 per bed are prohibitive to new development

» Jolly Roger will remain the best-in-class asset as the University grows

SIGNIFICANT DISCOUNT TO REPLACEMENT COST

» Jolly Roger's NOI would need to increase by over 100% to achieve a 7% untrended return on cost based on current construction costs

» This supports the empty pipeline and suggests near-term development is unlikely

MULTIPLE UPSIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR NEW OWNERSHIP

» Given the distinct quality of the asset, rents should be pushed to match the top of the market, which offers over 12% rent growth in year 2. Such increases are supported by top-of-market demand in pre-leasing

» Greenville City Council recently stopped leasing parking spots to properties competitive to Jolly Roger, leading to a market-wide parking shortage. Jolly Roger has boosted parking rates in pre-leasing and will sell out for the first time this year, demonstrating demand at higher rates

» Jolly Roger has operated at an elevated expense ratio compared to comparable properties. Expenses have decreased over time, with runway to continue operating more efficiently