Scion Announces Addition of 20,000 Beds to its Portfolio of Student Housing Communities

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Scion Group is pleased to announce the addition of 32 high-quality assets to its portfolio of student housing communities over the past 90 days. These transactions were completed in separate investment partnerships with a Brookfield private real estate fund and with PGIM Real Estate, the real estate investment business of PGIM, the global investment management business of Prudential Financial, Inc. With these additions, Scion has become the largest owner/operator of purpose-built off-campus student housing globally.

The communities add approximately 20,000 beds to Scion’s portfolio of self-managed communities under its world-class operations team. Scion’s total managed portfolio now comprises over 78,000 beds of student housing communities serving 74 college and university markets in 34 U.S. states. Scion employs over 1,700 team members and has approximately $8.0 billion of assets under management.

“The communities we’ve added in just a few months represent nearly $1.7 billion of transaction value, as well as the establishment of new partnerships with two of the world’s most preeminent real estate investors,” said Robert Bronstein, President and co-founder of The Scion Group. “That’s a testament to Scion’s focus and track record, and also to the strength and resilience that our sector has demonstrated during the past two years. As excited as we are to reach the milestone of being the largest owner/operator of off-campus student housing, our growing scale and national footprint also enable us to make further investments in our operating platform and proprietary technologies, benefiting our entire portfolio.”

The joint partnership between Scion and PGIM Real Estate launched in September 2021 with the acquisition of two Class A student housing communities at Rutgers University and the University of Florida.

“The expansion of our partnership with Scion reflects our continued focus on investing in alternative property sectors with sophisticated operators and in alignment with our extensive joint venture partnership network,” said Darin Bright, Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager for PGIM Real Estate’s U.S. Core Plus Fund.

Brookfield partnered with Scion to acquire a U.S. student housing portfolio of 27 properties with more than 17,000 beds, located in close proximity to several large, public universities with growing enrollments.

“We are excited to partner with a preeminent operator like Scion as we enter the U.S. student housing market in a meaningful way,” said Lowell Baron, Brookfield Real Estate Group’s Chief Investment Officer. “The market backdrop for student housing continues to strengthen and as the sector matures we are seeing opportunities to aggregate assets that require strategic capital to drive meaningful value.”

About The Scion Group

During its 22-year history, Scion has participated in the acquisition or development of more than 100,000 beds, totaling nearly $10.0 billion of project value. In addition to operating 119 student housing communities across the United States, Scion also acts as an advisor to colleges and universities, foundations, and private-sector providers, with experience in more than 250 campus markets. From a modest beginning in 1999, Scion has been defined by a relentless focus solely on student housing, applying innovation and creativity to the sector as one of its key participants. To learn more, visit www.thesciongroup.com.

About PGIM Real Estate

As one of the largest real estate managers in the world¹ with $201 billion in gross assets under management and administration,² PGIM Real Estate strives to deliver exceptional outcomes for investors and borrowers through a range of real estate equity and debt solutions across the risk-return spectrum. PGIM Real Estate is a business of PGIM, the $1.5 trillion global asset management business of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU).

PGIM Real Estate’s rigorous risk management, seamless execution, and extensive industry insights are backed by a 50-year legacy of investing in commercial real estate, a 140-year history of real estate financing, and the deep local expertise of professionals in 32 cities globally.³ Through its investment, financing, asset management, and talent management approach, PGIM Real Estate engages in practices that ignite positive environmental and social impact, while pursuing activities that strengthen communities around the world. For more information visit www.pgimrealestate.com.

About Brookfield

Brookfield is a leading global alternative asset manager with approximately US$650 billion of assets under management across real estate, infrastructure, renewable power, private equity, and credit. Brookfield owns and operates long-life assets and businesses, many of which form the backbone of the global economy. Utilizing its global reach, access to large-scale capital and operational expertise, Brookfield offers a range of alternative investment products to investors around the world — including public and private pension plans, endowments and foundations, sovereign wealth funds, financial institutions, insurance companies and private wealth investors.

Brookfield is listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges under the symbol BAM and BAM.A respectively. For more information, please visit our website at www.brookfield.com.

¹ Source: Pension & Investments’ annual real estate manager survey as of October 2020.
² As of September 30, 2021.Net AUM is $134B and AUA is $45B.
³ Includes legacy lending through PGIM’s parent company, PFI.