New Construction
Student Housing Builder in Georgia
Student housing has one delivery date that matters: the day residents move in. A conventional multifamily project that runs four weeks late costs four weeks of rent. A student housing project that runs four weeks late can lose a full academic year of lease-up.
TuckerCraft is a student housing builder working across Georgia. We have built multifamily communities since 2004 and we are an EarthCraft certified builder. Every student housing project we take on is scheduled backward from move-in week, with permitting, vertical construction, amenity build-out, punch, and turnover all sequenced against that one fixed date.
Developers, student housing investors, and institutional capital partners come to us when the unit count is real and the schedule has no slack in it. On time and on budget is the whole job.
What a Student Housing Builder Does Differently
A student housing builder plans construction around the academic calendar rather than a generic completion date. Certificate of occupancy, punch list, furniture installation, and property management handover are all sequenced to land before move-in week. Unit mix, shared amenity space, and by-the-bed leasing drive the design decisions, not conventional market-rate apartment assumptions.
That difference shows up early. By-the-bed leasing changes the unit mix conversation: a four-bed, four-bath plan carries a different plumbing scope, a different inspection sequence, and a different finish schedule than a conventional two-bedroom. Amenity space is not an upsell in student housing — study lounges, fitness space, and package rooms are leasing requirements, and they have to be complete and inspected at turnover, not six weeks after.
Pre-construction planning is where that gets resolved. We price the real scope before the drawings are final, flag the long-lead items that threaten an August handover, and give the development team a schedule they can show their lender.
For the broader picture of how student housing projects get scoped and sequenced, read our guide to what developers should know before breaking ground on student housing.
Why Garden-Style Apartments Work for Student Housing
Garden-style apartments — low-rise buildings of three or four storeys arranged around surface parking and shared outdoor space — suit student housing across most Georgia submarkets. They build faster than mid-rise, carry a lower cost per unit, and give residents ground-level entries and usable outdoor amenity area, all of which support both the construction schedule and the pre-leasing calendar.
The structural economics are straightforward. A three- and four-storey garden-style configuration avoids the podium construction, elevator cores, and structured parking that push mid-rise budgets upward. On a student housing site with land available, that difference often funds the amenity package that actually drives leasing velocity.
Garden-style also derisks the schedule. Building in phases means the first buildings can reach turnover while later ones are still in finishes, which gives the property management team a staged move-in instead of a single-day scramble across 150-plus units.
Where a site does not support garden-style — tight urban infill near a campus edge, for example — we will say so during pre-construction rather than after the budget is approved.
The Beacon: 456 Beds Near Kennesaw State University
TuckerCraft was the general contractor for The Beacon, a 158-unit, 456-bed student housing community in Marietta, Georgia, half a mile from Kennesaw State University's Marietta campus. It was built as a Type III, three- and four-storey garden-style configuration and opened in time for fall 2022 move-in.
Project at a glance
158 units, 456 beds, purpose-built student accommodation
Type III construction, three- and four-storey garden-style configuration
211,000 square feet, including a 12,700-square-foot clubhouse
Half a mile from Kennesaw State University's Marietta campus
Opened fully leased for the fall 2022 semester
Developer: Campus Realty Advisors
How Our Student Housing Construction Process Protects Your Lease-Up
Student housing construction at TuckerCraft follows the same four-step sequence we use on every multifamily project, with the schedule built around the academic calendar instead of a generic completion date. Cost estimating and budget development come first, then permitting and construction, then punch list and walkthrough, all landing before move-in week.
Goals and site walk. We start by learning your goals for the community, then walk the site with you and your design team.
Scope, estimating and budget. Construction cost estimating and budget development against preliminary drawings, with value engineering options identified while changes are still cheap.
Schedule. We build the schedule backward from move-in week and around your pre-leasing calendar, the same way we schedule renovation work around occupancy.
Construction, punch and walkthrough. Our team manages crews and trades, shares progress, and flags changes as they come up. Projects close with punch list completion and a walkthrough before handover.
This is the process described on our construction process page, applied to a student housing calendar.
Working With a General Contractor in Marietta, GA
TuckerCraft is a general contractor in Marietta, GA, building multifamily and student housing across the state since 2004. We have completed over 4,000 multifamily units, and our executive team brings a collective 150 years of multifamily experience.
Being based in metro Atlanta means we already work with the permitting offices, inspectors, and subcontractor base in the Georgia markets where student housing gets built. Bring us in early and that familiarity goes into the budget and the schedule, rather than into recovering them later.
TuckerCraft is also an EarthCraft certified builder, which matters on student housing projects where the capital partner or the university carries a sustainability mandate.
See more of our completed work in the project gallery, or read about new construction across our full multifamily portfolio.
Meet Us at NMHC
TuckerCraft is at the NMHC Student Housing Conference. If you are evaluating general contractors for a 2027 delivery, this is the right moment to start the conversation — the projects breaking ground next spring are being scoped now.
Student Housing Construction in Georgia:
Frequently Asked Questions
-
It depends on unit count, structure type, and jurisdiction, so a single number would be misleading. Three variables move a Georgia student housing schedule more than any others: county permitting speed, subcontractor availability at the time of award, and whether the site supports phased delivery. We price all three in pre-construction and give you a date your lender can hold us to.
-
Student housing is leased by the bed, not by the unit, which changes unit mix, bathroom count, and finish durability. The delivery date is also immovable — it must land before move-in week. Amenity space carries more leasing weight, and the turnover process has to accommodate a property management team preparing for a single-week occupancy surge.
-
Yes. TuckerCraft is headquartered in Marietta and works across Georgia, including university markets outside the metro area. Our regional subcontractor relationships and familiarity with county-level permitting are what make projects outside Atlanta schedulable rather than speculative. Travel distance is addressed in pre-construction, not discovered mid-project.
-
Before the drawings are final. Bringing a builder in during schematic design lets real pricing, constructability review, and long-lead procurement shape the project while changes are still cheap. Waiting until construction documents are complete usually means value engineering under deadline pressure, which is where student housing budgets and schedules both tend to break.
Build With a Student Housing Builder Who Works Backward From Move-In Week
If you are planning a student housing development in Georgia, the schedule is the asset. TuckerCraft has built purpose-built student accommodation at scale — 456 beds at The Beacon, garden-style, open for fall move-in — and we will tell you during pre-construction whether your date is real.
TuckerCraft Inc. · Marietta, GA · Multifamily and student housing construction across Georgia since 2004