A student housing tower rising across the street from Florida International University has sold for $169 million, a deal that pulls back the curtain on one of South Florida's biggest bets on the region's booming off-campus housing market. The sale centers on the Lapis project in Sweetwater, where developers are racing to deliver hundreds of beds before students return for the Fall 2028 semester.
The $169 million price tag was first reported by South Florida Business Journal, which also reported that the deal included more than $190 million in bond financing. The outlet identified the property as the Lapis student housing tower, located in Sweetwater directly across from FIU's campus.
Separately, Sweetwater officials approved resolutions enabling up to $250 million in tax-exempt bonds for the Lapis project, according to Citizen Portal. It is not clear from available records whether that $250 million authorization and the more than $190 million in bond financing cited in the sale report refer to the same financing package or to different stages of the deal.
What FIU Says Is Coming to Sweetwater
FIU has described the project as its first affiliated off-campus student housing facility, with a 21-story building offering 820 beds in Sweetwater across from the Modesto A. Maidique Campus, according to news.fiu.edu. The university says construction is expected to wrap in 2028, with students moving in for the Fall 2028 semester.
The building will be privately owned, developed and operated, but under a long-term housing agreement with FIU, the university's announcement states. FIU also says the facility will include an FIU residence director living on site to coordinate student programming, engagement activities and support services — an arrangement that blurs the line between a purely private apartment complex and university-backed housing.
Those details describe a 21-story, 820-bed building, while a separate account from developer partner CanAm Capital describes the Lapis project as a 20-story building with 293 units and 1,086 beds.
Why FIU Needs the Beds
FIU says demand for student housing near campus continues to outpace supply, with a continued waitlist for university-owned housing, per the university's announcement. Roughly 10,000 FIU students currently live on campus or within walking distance of the Modesto A. Maidique Campus, the university says — a figure that underscores why private developers see an opening in Sweetwater.
The university is also expanding elsewhere on campus. FIU has said it has five projects under construction on its main campus and six others in the design phase as student demand and research activity increase, and it has described Sunblazer Hall as its answer to students' demand for more on-campus housing, according to the same FIU announcement.
A Bumpy Road to Financing
Getting the Lapis project to this point wasn't simple. RAL Companies joined the development in late 2023 as development manager, stepping in after the site had already been acquired and entitlements secured, according to an interview published by Traded. Between late 2023 and early 2025, interest-rate swings made traditional financing difficult to secure, the outlet reported, citing the project's financing challenges during that stretch.
The bond financing ultimately closed earlier in 2026, and construction has been moving forward since, per the same account. The sale now reported at $169 million represents the next chapter for a project that spent roughly two years navigating a tougher lending environment before breaking ground.
How It Stacks Up Nationally
Sweetwater's deal lands amid a wave of major student housing transactions elsewhere in the country. In San Jose, a 260-unit, 19-story tower called The Grad sold for $204.8 million, with Brookfield and Coastal Ridge Real Estate teaming up through an affiliate to acquire it, according to The Mercury News. That high-rise can accommodate 1,039 beds and sold for 5.8% more than its most recently assessed value of $193.5 million, the outlet reported.
Other recent San Jose deals show just how pricey the sector has become: San Jose State University bought a 13-story student housing tower at 184 South Market Street through a $165 million purchase package in December 2025, and a Texas-based group paid $165 million in August 2026 for the 119-unit, 475-bed 27 North apartment complex, per the same Mercury News report. Set against those numbers, the Lapis sale price reflects a national market where investors are paying top dollar to house a growing wave of college students who can't find room near campus.
