Berkadia Sells 450-Bed Forum at Sam Houston to CrestMarc, Arranged for Preiss
Berkadia has arranged the sale and financing of The Forum at Sam Houston, a 450-bed, garden-style student housing property in Huntsville, Texas, the firm announced July 22, 2026. North Carolina-based Preiss was the seller, and Texas-based CrestMarc was the buyer. Sale price and loan terms were not disclosed.
Transaction Details
Berkadia's Student Housing team led the investment sales assignment on behalf of Preiss. Senior Managing Directors Travis Prince and Kevin Larimer, along with Directors Shawn Lubic and Victoria Marks, represented the seller in the transaction.
Acquisition financing was arranged by Senior Managing Director John Koeijmans and Director Austin Blankenship of Berkadia's Dallas office. The dual-platform execution — combining investment sales and debt placement under one firm — reflects a structure Berkadia has employed across its student housing deal flow in 2026.
The Forum at Sam Houston is a low-rise, garden-style complex with units in multi-bedroom layouts typical of purpose-built student housing. The property features a pool, fitness center, clubhouse, study areas, and in-unit laundry, consistent with 2000s–2010s-vintage student housing product. The community is marketed on a bed-count basis; detailed unit counts and square footage were not disclosed by the parties.
Asset and Market Context
The Forum at Sam Houston serves students at Sam Houston State University, a public university in Huntsville with total enrollment historically exceeding 20,000 students. SHSU has recorded steady enrollment growth over the past decade, driven by demand for regional public universities and programs in criminal justice, business, and education.
Huntsville's purpose-built student housing stock is limited relative to larger Texas university towns, with most off-campus inventory consisting of garden-style product built in the 2000s and 2010s. That supply constraint, combined with persistent enrollment growth at SHSU, has kept occupancy in dedicated student assets near full in recent periods.
Buyer and Seller Strategy
CrestMarc, a Texas-based multifamily investor and operator, has been active in workforce and student-adjacent housing in growing secondary markets across the state. The acquisition of The Forum at Sam Houston aligns with a Texas-focused growth strategy, targeting markets where enrollment trends and limited new purpose-built competition support stable occupancy.
For Preiss, one of the country's largest privately held student housing owners and operators, the disposition fits a pattern of recycling capital from stabilized assets in non-core markets. The company has in recent years sold select secondary-market properties while directing resources toward assets at flagship universities where rent growth and institutional capital demand are strongest.
Berkadia Student Housing Deal Volume
Through the date of this announcement, Berkadia Student Housing had closed and financed 24 transactions in 2026, totaling 7,828 beds. The firm's student housing practice focuses on close-to-campus opportunities at universities ranging from large public institutions to smaller private colleges.
Sources
Berkadia — The Forum at Sam Houston, Huntsville, TX | Sold and Financed by Berkadia 2026