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If you are the die hard fan who attends all of your universities home games and are looking for convenience, have we got the new trend in housing for you. Why own a home on the beach when you can have a condo that overlooks Sanford Stadium, or is just down the block from Rupp Arena. Developers are building units just like these in college towns across the country who want the convenience of owning near the stadium instead of finding hotel rooms.

High-end condominium developments are springing up in many college towns, drawing die-hard football fans wanting a place to stay a short walk from the stadium of their alma mater. Buyers say the condos can be a good investment and save them the hassle of hunting a hotel room for crowded home-game weekends. They’re also a place to party with fellow alumni. Although there are just a handful of home football games a year, some developments offer management and concierge services to help owners rent out the condos like hotel rooms. But in most developments it’s taboo to rent to students.

“It’s brutal to find a place to stay on game day in many of these college towns, and you have a lot of rabid fans out there who want to own a piece of real estate like this,” says Michael McGwier, executive managing director at Trammell Crow Residential, an Atlanta firm that recently teamed up with developer Gameday Centers Southeastern LLC to market condos planned near the University of Notre Dame, the University of Tennessee and other locations.

The condos generally are fitted with hardwood floors, granite counters and stainless-steel appliances — though they don’t provide owners with tickets to the games. Prices can range from $145,000 for a studio across the street from Rupp Arena, home of the University of Kentucky Wildcats basketball team, to nearly $1.1 million for a penthouse at the recently completed Tallahassee Center tied to the Florida State Seminoles. By lending its name to a development, school teams get part of the purchase price, typically 1%. The University of Georgia in Athens has taken in about $275,000 from sales at a condo complex that opened two years ago a few blocks from its Sanford Stadium, according to Gameday Centers. via the Real Estate Journal

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