American Campus Communities Names James Hopke COO

(RTTNews) - American Campus Communities, Inc. (ACC) said Wednesday that it has appointed James Hopke, Jr. as chief operating officer effective October 1, 2014.

Hopke succeeds Greg Dowell, who is retiring from that position effective September 30, 2014. Dowell will continue his affiliation with the company post retirement as a consultant focused primarily on the ongoing refinement of the company's proprietary operating platform.

Hopke first joined the company in 2000 as the senior vice president of acquisitions and was instrumental in the company's pre-IPO growth. He briefly left the company from 2003-2005 serving as vice president of asset management for Wachovia's real estate capital markets group. He rejoined the company in 2005 as executive vice president and chief investment officer spearheading the company's initial growth post-IPO. From 2008 to 2013, he served as the executive vice president of project management and construction overseeing the development of more than 45 assets representing more than $2.7 billion in development value. From 2013 to present, he served as executive vice president of asset management.