Out of 45 participants who submitted an essay to YOUnion@Tallahassee, a student housing community near Florida State University, junior Kyle Aloof earned the top prize
TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Oct. 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — SmartStop Asset Management, LLC (“SAM”), sponsor of Strategic Student & Senior Housing Trust, Inc., announced today that Florida State University junior Kyle Aloof has won the company’s YOUnion@Tallahassee Essay Contest and was awarded a $25,000 scholarship.
Opened to U.S. residents 18 years or older who attended Florida State University, Florida A&M University, or Tallahassee Community College for the 2019/2020 academic year, the contest required each entrant to submit a written or video essay that addressed a single topic and question – “College is the most transformative time of your life. How will you change the world after you graduate from college?”
Aloof was awarded the scholarship for his essay which detailed his summer in Sierra Leone, where he taught English and math to students in the fifth and sixth grades. His essay described how he hopes to return to Sierra Leone to transform the local community center and change the lives of the children there should he be awarded the scholarship.
“We are pleased with the many submissions that we received and are impressed at how inspiring each of the responses were,” said Paula Matthews, executive vice president. “In particular, Kyle’s essay caught the attention of our judging panel and highlighted a student with a passion for helping others reach their full potential, a goal that the YOUnion brand has for students at all of its student housing properties.”
Located at 700 W. Virginia St. on 3.71 acres of land, YOUnion@Tallahassee is a 125-unit, 434-bed student housing property just one block from the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. The property provides students with easy access to the Student Union, Business School and North Campus Library and Learning Commons. Floor plans range from one to four bedrooms and each fully furnished unit includes one bathroom per bedroom parity for enhanced privacy. Community amenities include secure access, a 24-hour fitness facility, resort-style pool, computer center, private study rooms, coffee bar and more. Incorporated throughout the property is a fiber optic cable with broadband speeds of one gigabit per second, which supports simultaneous connectivity to multiple devices.
The YOUnion brand focuses on creating modern student living environments, combining the comforts of home with state-of-the-art amenities. Each community is specifically designed to foster a strong sense of community so that students can be successful and productive during their college experience.
About SmartStop Asset Management, LLC
SmartStop Asset Management (“SAM”) is a diversified real estate company focused on student housing and senior housing. Since 2007, the SAM executive team has transacted approximately $5.7 billion in real estate deals. The company has approximately $480 million of real estate assets under management, including five student housing communities with approximately 2,800 beds and 1.1 million square feet of space, as well as four senior housing communities with approximately 650 beds and 500,000 rentable square feet of space. SAM is the sponsor of Strategic Student & Senior Housing Trust, Inc., a public non-traded REIT focused on student and senior housing assets. SAM is also a national sponsor of Section 1031 exchange offerings using the Delaware statutory trust structure. SAM has a track record of full-cycle REIT liquidity events, including the all-cash merger of SmartStop Self Storage, Inc. (f/k/a Strategic Storage Trust, Inc.) with Extra Space Storage in October 2015 for $13.75 per share and the all cash merger of Strategic Storage Growth Trust, Inc. with Strategic Storage Trust II, Inc. in January 2019 for $12.00 per share. In June 2019, SAM entered into a series of transactions with SmartStop Self Storage REIT, Inc. (“SmartStop REIT”) (f/k/a Strategic Storage Trust II, Inc.) in which SmartStop REIT acquired the self storage advisory, asset management, property management and tenant insurance joint venture interests of SAM. As a result of the transactions, SAM and its subsidiaries own limited partnership units in the operating partnership of SmartStop REIT. SmartStop REIT is now a self-administered self storage REIT that, through its wholly owned subsidiary, SmartStop REIT Advisors, LLC, sponsors other self storage programs, including Strategic Storage Trust IV, Inc. and self storage private programs.