WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Champion Real Estate Company recently announced that it had acquired Salisbury Campus Apartments, the five-building student housing community near Purdue University.
Champion, a real estate company out of California, purchased 85 units — a total of 290 beds — throughout the 300, 310 and 318 Salisbury Street and 229 and 235 Littleton Street locations in West Lafayette for an undisclosed amount.
The company will be rebranding the apartment complex to Victory on Salisbury.
Champion will continue to honor the master lease that was originally agreed upon with Purdue University and is expected to expire in 2025.
However, it’s unclear if the apartments will still be offered to students via Purdue University’s residences system after 2025, or if Champion will operate the residential complex as a private Realtor.
“We haven’t fully made that decision yet. We look forward to talking with the university and seeing if we could work something out,” Parker Champion, the chief operating officer and partner at Champion Real Estate Company, said in an interview with The Journal & Courier.
“It will still be student housing whether we re-up with the university or take it more private. That decision is left open until we can further those discussions with the university.”
However, once the original master lease expires, Champion plans to renovate the properties. The company plans to repaint the exterior of the apartment complexes and install vinyl plank flooring, cabinetry, quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances and modern fixtures. All the bedrooms will be fully refurnished and offer students new televisions and soundbars.
The company did consider completely redeveloping the property but found out that it would not be able to build an equal density of housing due to current West Lafayette zoning ordinances. After learning this, the company opted to revamp the current property, Parker explained.
If the company is able to negotiate a deal with Purdue University, Parker explained that instead of closing the whole complex for a portion of time to conduct the renovation, it will instead conduct several rounds of renovations in hopes of reducing its impact on the local housing stock for students.
“Occupancy and demand have never been greater at student housing communities that support premier educational institutions like Purdue University," said Garrett Champion, executive vice president of Champion Real Estate Company, in a press release announcing the sale.
"We will continue to make strategic student housing acquisitions at Tier 1 universities with supply constraints and strong fundamentals."
When asked how much Champion planned on charging for these new housing units, Parker explained that those prices have not been determined and will be determined if the company can make a deal with the university.
The company currently owns and operates 15 student housing communities encompassing more than 4,300 beds at eight different universities.
Noe Padilla is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email him at Npadilla@jconline.com and follow him on X at 1NoePadilla.
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