American Campus Communities

From 1993 to 2003, the company partnered with SUNY system, the University of California System, and the Texas A&M University System to develop and manage student housing.

In 1996, Prairie View A&M University became the company's first university partner with the development of on campus, University Village. ACC developed housing for more than 2,000 students over the next two years.[4]

In 1997, Bayless bought out his partners and in 1999, ACC developed its first off-campus residence, the Callaway House College Station at Texas A&M University for first‑year students.[5]

In 2004, ACC became a public company via an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming the first publicly traded student housing company in the United States.[6]

In 2005, the company worked with Arizona State University (ASU) on the Vista del Sol community, to pioneer the American Campus Equity program, an ownership model for on-campus student housing. With ACE, ACC brings equity to a project and serves as the university's financial, development and operating partner.[7] In 2008, the company acquired the student housing division of GMH Communities Trust in a $1.4 billion transaction, doubling the size of the company.[8]

In 2011, the company received $132 million contract to build a 1,008-bed student housing complex at Northern Illinois University.[9] In 2013, ACC entered the Ivy League with Princeton's Merwick Stanworth faculty and staff housing community was its first project at an Ivy League university.[10] It later expanded its partnership to develop and manage Princeton graduate student housing.[11]

ASU's Manzanita Hall, became ACC's first redevelopment, reconfiguring the dilapidated 1960s high rise into a modern layout that promotes academic performance, collaboration and community.[12] In 2016, ACC broke ground on its 100th development, U Club Sunnyside at WVU, CEO Bill Bayless’ alma mater.[13] In 2017, ASU opened the Tooker House, the largest engineering residential college. This marked the sixth phase of the ASU partnership and 33rd LEED certified building.[14]

In 2018, ACC began construction on an approximately $615 million residential community for participants of the Disney College program, now known as Disney Internships & Programs, through an American Campus Equity translation.[15] In 2019, American Campus Communities joined Northeastern University and the city of Boston to open the 20-story residential tower, LightView,[16] as part of the “Housing A Changing City: Boston 2030” initiative to improve the quality and quantity of housing for students attending Boston institutions of higher education.[17]

In 2020, ACC collaborated with RB, the makers of Lysol, to set a formalized approach to cleanliness and disinfection at its student housing communities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[18]

On April 19, 2022, ACC announced that it was acquired by The Blackstone Group for $12.8 billion and would be going private (shareholders will be paid $65.47 cash per share). The acquisition was completed in August 2022.[19]

• First publicly traded campus dorm REIT [20]
• Pioneered on-campus equity transaction structure (ACE) [21]
• Achieved Investment Grade Rating from Moody's and Standard & Poor's [22]
• CEO Bill Bayless was the Regional Winner of the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award, and was subsequently named as a National Finalist (2007) [23]
• National Association of Home Builders (2013) Development Firm of the Year [24]
• Forbes “America's 100 Most Trustworthy” companies list (2012 & 2013) [25]
• In 2015, CEO Bill Bayless was featured by Commercial Property Executive as one of commercial real estate's Most Innovative Executives [26]
• Texas Monthly magazine named American Campus Communities one of the “Best Companies to Work For” on three separate occasions [27]
• Student Housing Business 5 INNOVATOR Awards (2016) [28]
• Student Housing Business 8 INNOVATOR Awards (2015) [29]
• Texan by Nature 20 (TxN20) Honoree, an official ranking of the Top 20 Texas-based companies leading conservation and sustainability in 2019 and 2020 [30][31]
• National Association of Home Builders Pillars of the Industry Award: Best in Green Market Rate Multifamily Community for Plaza Verde at University of California, Irvine in 2019 [32]
• Great Place to Work Certification based on employees’ feedback on the Trust Index™ Survey administered by Great Place to Work for 2020 [33]
• Globe St. CRE Best Bosses Awarded to CEO Bill Bayless in 2020 [34]

American Campus Communities and the mental health non profit, Hi, How Are You Project, aim to tackle issues of mental health among U.S. college students through a residence life training and awareness program at more than 70 universities across the country.[35]

• Official website
• • Historical business data for American Campus Communities, Inc.:
  • SEC filings