The student village will include 4,000 beds, expanding upon the 1,400-bed student housing development known as The Pier.
Courtesy photo
PICKENS COUNTY — Chicago-based Core Spaces (Core) a vertically integrated residential real estate developer, owner, and operator, and Tom Winkopp Development (Winkopp) of Clemson recently announced a joint venture to create one of the country’s largest off-campus student housing development projects into a 140-acre, walkable student village located near Clemson University’s campus.
The student village will include 4,000 beds, expanding upon the 1,400-bed student housing development known as The Pier, as well as state-of-the-art athletic and fitness facilities, pools, outdoor grills, student clubhouses, beachfront access, and waterfront trails. Once fully constructed, the site will feature a new downtown locale that is “walkable, charming, and accessible to all students and the local community,” they said.
“At Core, our mission is to connect with our residents and create spaces where they can live how they want and do what they love. This project is among the most ambitious in our history, and we are pleased to partner with Tom Winkopp and his highly respected local development team to bring to Clemson University and its surrounding community a world-class college town environment,” said Daniel Goldberg, president of Core Spaces. “Clemson, South Carolina has experienced significant population growth due to its high quality of living, affordability, picturesque downtown and favorable year-round climate as well as Clemson University’s strong enrollment rates.”
The development will also take a highly innovative approach to off-campus living by reimagining the entire student village experience from the ground up. Core will draw on its significant experience in developing and designing beautifully designed purpose-built student housing to create single-family neighborhoods and clusters of homes that have their own organic community feel. One of the key elements of the neighborhood will be the nine-bedroom homes that will be among the most unique off-campus student housing units in the country when finished, they said.
The student village is one piece of a larger master-planned, mixed-use project on the entire 325-acre site to be developed by Tom Winkopp Development and partners during the next three to five years. Winkopp and partners have owned the land since 2007. Clemson Area Transit, a zero-fare bus line known locally as CAT and the most frequently used transit system in South Carolina, already provides bus service to and from the campus with stops every 30 minutes and eventually every 15 minutes.
“This is one of the most spectacular pieces of property located near a college campus we’ve ever seen,” said Joe Gatto, Managing Director of Acquisitions at Core Spaces. “We’re very excited to transform the space into a one-of-a-kind student village that residents will love. After we deliver 900 new beds in 2024, it will become one of the largest privately owned student housing projects in the country.”
“Core Spaces is nationally recognized as the best-in-class design-centric developer of purpose-built student housing, and they showed why immediately. I am thrilled to partner with them to bring this exciting project to life,” added Tom Winkopp. “I chose Core for its urban planning approach to projects that seamlessly stitch together the old and the new in terms of architecture and style. This is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to develop this type of property that will greatly benefit Clemson students and have a tremendous economic impact on the surrounding counties.”
JLL Capital Markets worked on behalf of the joint venture between Tom Winkopp Development and Core Spaces. The JLL team was led by Senior Director Teddy Leatherman and Directors John Gavigan and Warren Johnson.
“We were thrilled to connect Core Spaces with Tom Winkopp and cannot wait to see the final product,” said Leatherman.