40-story tower near the Varsity part of Georgia developer’s bold growth plan

Landmark has grown into the country’s largest student housing developer with roughly $15 billion in assets and 72,000 beds under management. It’s a meteoric rise for a 21-year-old company, but Rogers said the timing is right to pivot for further growth. Those expanded ambitions place Atlanta in the spotlight, relying on its workforce, student base and an iconic Midtown fast-food joint.

Credit: Courtesy of Landmark Properties

Credit: Courtesy of Landmark Properties

In an exclusive interview, Rogers told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Landmark is altering its business strategy and remaking its C-suite to tackle larger projects and expand beyond its student housing roots. Landmark will be expanding its team in Atlanta and Athens, which Rogers called the company’s “home turf.”

Landmark is breaking into the burgeoning build-to-rent sector, where new single-family neighborhoods are built with the intent of being rented rather than sold. The company is also planning its first European student housing projects while making progress on high-profile developments back home, including a 40-story tower adjacent to the Varsity’s landmark Midtown location.

The project, which recently received a key permit, features up to 2,235 beds, making it one of the largest residential towers in Atlanta.

“If it wasn’t such a great location, I’m not sure we’d be comfortable building so many beds,” Rogers said. “… But we feel like this is a great place to make a good long-term bet.”

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

While its largest corporate hub is in Athens, the company’s Buckhead office has grown to 100 employees over the past four years and is “bursting at the seams,” according to Rogers. Walt Templin, a decade-long veteran at Landmark who was recently promoted to president and chief investment officer, said Atlanta has increasingly become pivotal to the company’s future.

“We’ll always maintain a strong presence in Athens,” Templin said. “But Atlanta is where we’re experiencing the strongest growth and where we expect the largest growth in head count to continue for the foreseeable future.”

New opportunities

Landmark’s corporate journey can be defined by the decades.

Rogers cofounded the company the week he graduated from a master’s business program at the University of Georgia in 2004. His original vision was to build the next generation of student housing projects and sell them upon completion.

“For the first decade, we were really just being scrappy entrepreneurs who started with no money, no experience and were doing what we needed to do to get deals done,” he said.

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

But by 2014, Rogers decided Landmark needed to retain ownership of its projects and expand its portfolio, seeing that as the best path for growth. He described it as building “a moat around our business,” an effort that led to the company’s size and scope increasing.

In 2023, Landmark completed nearly a quarter of all new U.S. student housing beds.

That growth caught the attention of an undisclosed European asset management firm, which pursued a merger or acquisition with Landmark. That deal didn’t materialize, Rogers said, but it piqued his interest in pursuing projects across the pond.

Landmark has five development sites in the U.K. under “heads of term,” effectively nonbinding sales agreements. The sites are spread across London and secondary U.K. markets.

“Eventually, we’d like to be all across the European continent,” Rogers said. “We want to dip our toes in the water into the U.K. and experience some success in the U.K. before we go into mainland Europe.”

The charge into the build-to-rent market is primarily a response to stagnating apartment rents in many U.S. cities, Rogers said. He aims for roughly a third of Landmark’s development activity to be single-family build-to-rent within the next five years.

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

‘The best development site’

Landmark made headlines in November when it struck a deal for one of the most coveted pieces of land in Atlanta next to the Varsity off Spring Street.

The Gordy family, who owns the Varsity, is under contract to sell roughly 2 acres of surface parking lots at 680 Spring St. NW. The restaurant at 61 North Ave. NW, which opened in 1928, is not part of the sale and will remain open.

“It’s probably the best development site that exists in Atlanta,” he said of the site, which is a short walk from Georgia Tech’s campus. “We’ve been trying to acquire that site for many, many years.”

Landmark will be the project’s general contractor, and Rogers said he hopes to break ground by early next year. An investor group hasn’t been finalized, but Rogers said they’re in discussion with “several different groups.”

Credit: Courtesy of Landmark Properties

Credit: Courtesy of Landmark Properties

Depending on when construction starts, Landmark aims to open the new student housing tower in time for either the 2028 or 2029 fall semester.

As part of the strategic overhaul, Rogers will remain CEO and take on the role of chairman, overseeing Landmark’s broad initiatives. Other changes include Jason Doornbos as chief development officer, Art Templin as chief operating officer of development and construction and Porter McDonald as executive managing director of investment.

Walt Templin, the newly promoted president and CIO, will oversee the day-to-day operations and said the company’s growth will continue to spur employee expansions in Athens and Atlanta.

“As the portfolio grows, the people are able to grow along with it,” he said.