Per-unit pricing breaks in student housing; the bed count is the number that matters.
Coastal Ridge Real Estate and Brookfield bought Grad San Jose, a 260-unit student housing property next to San Jose State University, for $204.75M (Commercial Real Estate Direct, Oct. 15).
That is about $787,500 per unit. The seller was a group of investors; the article names no individual seller in the retrievable text.
On the same date, a 312-unit apartment property in downtown San Jose sold for $176M, or $564,103 per unit.
The student print is about 40% higher per unit (derived), but a student unit holds multiple beds, so the comparison is not like-for-like.
Together the two trades total $380.75M (derived) in one market. Beds, year built, financing and rents were not reported.
Implications: Underwrite student housing per bed and per enrolled student, not per unit. Brookfield's participation means an institutional buyer paid this print. Ask for the bed count, the fall 2027 pre-lease and the enrollment trend at San Jose State before comparing it to conventional apartment pricing.
Key Takeaways
- In student housing the unit price flatters or hides the real number: dollars per bed.
- Student price is about 40% above the conventional deal per unit (derived)
- Per-unit pricing is not like-for-like because student units hold several beds
- The two trades total $380.75M (derived)
Commercial Real Estate Direct, San Jose, Calif., Student-Housing Property Sells for $204.74Mln, Oct. 15, 2026 · Commercial Real Estate Direct, 312-Unit Apartment Property in San Jose, Calif., Sells for $176Mln, Oct. 15, 2026
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