Oak Creek Apartments, a large housing complex located on a prime piece of real estate at 1600 Sand Hill Road, has been purchased by Stanford, the university announced Wednesday.

An unnamed Stanford affiliate acquired the leasehold on the 759-unit multifamily residential complex, which is located on university land adjacent to the main campus and within a half mile of Stanford's hospitals. The university already owns the land but had leased the property to an operator since 1959. The acquisition involved assuming the ground lease and the buildings.

"The current apartment operator lessee decided to sell its leasehold, and Stanford took the unexpected opportunity to have an affiliate acquire this 26-year leasehold in order to accelerate the supply of housing," the university said.

The acquisition is a singular opportunity for Stanford to add a significant amount of housing for eligible university affiliates close to where they work and learn, the university noted.

For decades, Stanford has been leasing a number of apartments at Oak Creek for members of the university community. Acquiring the leasehold will allow the university to expand apartment rentals to its community at reasonable rates. Existing Stanford-affiliated tenants who are not currently renting one of the university’s master-leased units will receive reduced rental rates at the time of their next lease renewal, the university said. As units turn over naturally, Stanford plans to offer those apartments to eligible university community members.

Postdoctoral students will be the highest priority group because the apartment complex is located near the central academic portion of campus and Stanford Medicine facilities, according to the university.

“Acquiring Oak Creek is a significant step forward in our efforts to expand housing opportunities for the Stanford community on and near campus. I’m especially proud that we will be able to prioritize housing opportunities for postdocs at Oak Creek because they face unique challenges navigating the local housing market,” university Provost Persis Drell said in the announcement.

The rental rates for eligible renters will be less than the standard market rate, as is the case with all of Stanford’s rental communities. The units won't be designated as below-market-rate housing, but they should reduce demand for similarly priced rental housing in the region, the university said.