Youngstown State University was eager to see more students live on campus, but to realize that aim more housing was needed. The university hired Berusch Development Partners as a development advisor.

While YSU needed additional on-campus housing for its undergraduate students, the university did not have the financial wherewithal to self-develop the apartments. A local developer had purchased a parcel next to the site where the apartments would be built and came to YSU with a proposal to merge and lease both sites and privately construct the student apartments. YSU needed Berusch ’s help to establish planning-and-design standards, set operational protocols, and negotiate an agreement that was satisfactory to the developer and its lender, and at the same time provided protections and rights for the long-term benefit of the university.

Berusch served as advisor to YSU ’s president and management team on the developer ’s proposal to lease university land and build four residential buildings. The firm advised the university on several project elements, including design work, project phasing, construction logistics, property management, and the pros and cons of various financing options and deal structures. Berusch negotiated a long-term ground lease and development agreement, working closely with the state agency that oversees the disposition of public land. The $7.5 million first phase of the project broke ground in 2009 and was completed in 2010.