🎙️Episode Summary

In this month’s wrap-up, host Wes Deese and co-host Gretta Dare welcome 2026 with a breakdown of the major shifts in the student housing industry rankings. Special guest Jason Fort, EVP at Asset Living, joins the show to discuss Asset Living’s historic rise to the number one spot on the Student Housing Business Top 25 Managers list, overtaking American Campus Communities. Jason shares insights into their organic growth, the increasing trend of multifamily-to-student conversions, and the importance of operational flexibility in today's market.

The team also dives into significant development news, including Core Spaces' massive 2,352-bed "ōLiv Columbia" project and a unique hotel-to-student housing conversion Columbia, SC and a rare new dev/conversion in Manhattan by BDB Construction. Finally, Wes and Gretta analyze the latest Fall enrollment data, highlighting a surge in community college attendance and sparking a candid conversation about degree requirements for industry professionals.

⏱️Timestamps

00:00:00 – Sponsor Message: Introduction to Social Pro from Opiniion.

00:02:08 – Intro & Weather Reports: Wes and Gretta catch up on the winter storms hitting North Carolina and College Station.

00:05:00 – Top 25 Managers Rankings: Analysis of the new industry rankings and Asset Living taking the #1 spot.

00:06:40 – Guest Interview: Jason Fort of Asset Living joins to discuss their growth strategy and the shift from multifamily to student housing operations.

00:16:27 – Third-Party Management & Shared Services: A look at the Top Third-Party Managers list, Cardinal Group crossing the 100k bed threshold, and the rise of "white label" management services.

00:20:00 – Industry Consolidation: Discussion on recent mergers, including Yugo and Campus Advantage.

00:23:00 – Top 25 Owners List: Reviewing the top owners, including American Campus Communities, Scion, and the rapid growth of Core Spaces.

00:31:30 – Development News (CORE Spaces): Breakdown of the massive ōLiv Columbia project and the operational challenges of managing mega-developments.

00:43:00 – Manhattan Conversion Project: BDB Construction’s conversion of a Financial District hotel into the world’s tallest student accommodation.

00:52:00 – Enrollment Data Analysis: Insights from the National Student Clearinghouse and Chronicle of Higher Education regarding Fall 2025/2026 enrollment trends.

01:00:00 – The Degree Debate: Gretta and Wes discuss the necessity of college degrees for various roles within the student housing industry.

💡Sponsor Social Pro by Opiniion This episode is sponsored by Social Pro from Opiniion, the number one social media management platform designed specifically for property management. Social Pro allows you to create beautiful, optimized content in seconds and publish it across every major social network with just one click. From AI-powered content creation to a unified inbox for all comments and DMs, Social Pro elevates your brand and simplifies resident engagement.

Click here to learn more: https://opiniion.com/shi/

📎Sources & Links:

Student Housing Insight: https://www.studenthousinginsight.com/

ShopTalk Webinars: https://www.shoptalk.info/

Student Housing Business: https://studenthousingbusiness.com/

National Student Clearinghouse:

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/students/2026/01/15/fall-enrollment-increased-1-international-students-declined

CORE Spaces: https://studenthousingbusiness.com/core-spaces-to-break-ground-on-2350-bed-mixed-use-development-near-university-of-south-carolina/

BDB Construction:

https://studenthousingbusiness.com/bdb-construction-completes-phase-i-of-student-housing-conversion-project-in-manhattans-financial-district/

🎙️ Episode Summary:

In this episode, host Wesley Deese is joined by Student Housing Insight Ambassador Courtney Colegrove from Core Spaces.They discuss Courtney's journey from resident assistant to the corporate side of student housing and the inspiration behind her new content project, "SHI Talks" (a cheeky play on "Shit Talks"). Recorded on-site at LeaseCon / TurnCon 2025, the episode features a series of "man-on-the-street" style interviews.

Courtney puts vendors and operators on the spot with rapid-fire questions, revealing candid takes on everything from "last-minute approvals" vs. "last-minute cancellations" to the real villains of property management: construction delays or unrealistic timelines. Tune in for a fun, human look at the people powering the industry.

⏱️ Timestamps:

00:00:19 – Sponsor Message: Social Pro from Opinion

00:02:06 – Intro

00:03:38 – Meet Courtney Colegrove: From Public Health to Student Housing

00:08:00 – The "SHI Talks" Concept: Bringing humor and authenticity to industry content

00:11:40 – Vendor Interviews: Alex Bennett (Opinion)

00:14:10 – Vendor Interviews: Anthony Tuppin II (Lease Magnets)

00:17:54 – Operator Interviews: Jordan Verdean (CORE Spaces)

00:19:42 – Operator Interviews: Jake Zaino (Caliber Living)

00:21:15 – Outro

💡 Sponsors:

Opinion (Social Pro) This episode is powered by Social Pro from Opinion, the number one social media management platform designed specifically for property management. Social Pro allows teams to create, schedule, and publish optimized content across all major social networks—including Reels and stories—in just seconds. With built-in Canva integration and multi-location analytics, it simplifies how you elevate your resident engagement.

Check them out here: Visit https://opiniion.com/shi/

📎 Sources & Links Mentioned:

Student Housing Insight:

https://www.studenthousinginsight.com/

ShopTalk Webinars:

https://www.shoptalk.info/

Lease Magnets:

https://leasemagnets.com/

CORE Spaces:

https://corespaces.com/

Caliber Living:

https://www.caliberliving.com/

🎙️Episode Summary

In this episode, recorded live from Lease Con / Turn Con in Charlotte, host Wesley Deese sits down with Dan Smith, co-founder of Verbaflo and host of the Housed podcast. While Dan is a familiar voice in the UK and European student housing sectors, he is making his debut in the US market with Verbaflo, an award-winning conversational AI platform designed specifically for student accommodations.

The conversation covers Dan's journey from operations and consultancy to tech entrepreneurship, driven by the need for better communication tools in the industry. Dan and Wes discuss the capabilities of Verbaflo—which supports 180 languages across voice, chat, and messaging apps—and how it achieved "PropTech of the Year" status in Europe. They also explore the company's strategy for the US market, including a risk-free pilot program designed to prove value to operators before they commit to contracts.

⏱️Timestamps & Segments

00:00:00 – Intro: The reality of speaking with AI agents.

00:03:20 – Introduction to the episode: Profiling Verbaflo.

00:06:45 – Interview begins: Welcoming Dan Smith to the US.

00:08:53 – Dan’s background: From gin distilleries to student housing operations.

00:09:50 – The origin of Verbaflo: Solving the communication problem.

00:15:30 – Operational efficiency vs. staff reduction: Enhancing the community manager role.

00:19:40 – US Expansion Strategy: The 3-month risk-free pilot program.

00:20:45 – Winning "PropTech of the Year" and managing 200,000 beds in Europe.

00:25:09 – Upcoming appearances: Interface Student Housing Conference 2026.

00:24:45 – The value of remaining an active consultant while selling tech.

00:27:30 – Contact information and the Housed podcast.

📎Resources & Links Mentioned

Verbaflo:

https://www.verbaflo.ai/

Shop Talk: https://www.shoptalk.info/

Student Housing Insight: https://www.studenthousinginsight.com/

Housed – The Shared Living Podcast: Dan Smith’s weekly podcast covering the UK/European sector.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/housed-the-shared-living-podcast/id1729644031

Interface Student Housing Conference:

https://web.cvent.com/event/f7084451-7ded-4cf2-a457-54878ee006f4/websitePage:9ee6647b-278e-45b3-95bc-fdca253e1bba?environment=P2