EdR :: About Us

Community Managers at the 2010 annual meeting where they report property updates, share ideas and have fun!

EdR is one of America's largest owners, developers and operators of collegiate housing and is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust, or REIT.

EdR has a large national footprint with locations in 23 states. Since 2000, the Company has developed more than 33 privatized housing communities and has completed more than $2.4 billion in collegiate housing transactions both on- and off-campus. Of these transactions, EdR invested more than $1.3 billion in private equity.

EdR collegiate projects have all responded to the unique needs of the university setting and have ranged from freshmen-dedicated living-learning centers to graduate student housing to faculty and staff apartments. Our real estate portfolio contains a variety of designs which uniquely fit the personality, setting and needs of the university and its intended residents. Each is appointed with popular social features, the latest technology and upscale amenities. Some include mixed use retail as well as day care facilities.

Our experienced and respected teams provide impressive facilities and valuable services to our customers – universities, residents (families, students, faculty and staff) and parents. EdR is known for innovative design and financing, quality construction, sustainable building products, and successful management programs for others' properties as well as our own.

The company currently owns and manages 34 on- or off-campus communities with more than 25,400 beds and provides third-party management services for 20 properties with more than 10,000 beds. Since 2000, the company has developed 33 privatized on-campus housing communities, consisting of nearly 21,000 beds and representing a cost of approximately $1.3 billion. And every project has been delivered on-time and on-budget.

History

The predecessor of EdR was founded in 1952. A simple construction company, Allen & O'Hara soon became one of the nation's most successful developers when they began working with another company founded in Memphis that same year, Holiday Inn.

The company soon expanded and, in 1964, they introduced the "student hotel concept" to the market. The four-person-suite was an innovation in college housing design. The company developed the 1,328-bed Granville Towers at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill which we still manage today. It was the first "privatized" student housing project.

Since that first venture into student housing, the Company has pioneered many firsts in the industry.

• First to introduce Individual Leases
• First to introduce Full-Service Off-Campus Student Housing Apartments with Amenities
• First to introduce the Co-ed Living Concept
• First to introduce Same-day Maintenance Service
• First Proprietary Computerized Accounts Receivable and Revenue Management System
• First "Dine Anytime" Food Service in its Residence Halls
• First to introduce "Community Assistant Program" for Off-Campus, Privatized Student Housing
• Early adapter of Sustainability features and Geothermal Design
• Largest Campus Revitalization Project in the Nation with a 3,516- bed Replacement Project at Indiana University of Pennsylvania

In 2004, the Company's leadership created a real estate investment trust — Education Realty Trust (EDR). When EdR went public in 2005, it acquired Allen & O'Hara Education Services and Allen & O'Hara Development Company.