Over a period of 90 days, Scion establishes new investment partnerships with two of the world’s leading real estate investors, adding 32 new communities and nearly 20,000 beds, representing $1.7 billion in project value. As a result, Scion becomes the global leader in purpose-built, off-campus student housing, operating 117 communities in 72 campus markets. The team of over 1,700 employees serves nearly 77,000 residents across the United States.

As of its 20th anniversary, Scion is North America’s largest privately‐held owner/operator of student housing, operating over 58,000 beds and managing $5 billion of assets in partnership with institutional investors, supported by a corporate staff of nearly 180 and a site-level team of over 1,300. During those 20 years, Scion’s Advisory Services group has served 222 clients in 38 US states, six Canadian provinces, plus Mexico and the UK, including 57 engagements completed in 2019.

Scion sells its ownership stake in some of its original value-add offerings, creating a successful realization as well as orienting its own portfolio toward newer, state-of-the-art housing. Following this disposition, Scion’s portfolio has an average age of under five years and an average distance-to-campus of 0.7 miles. Further, the quality of Scion’s campuses (as defined by enrollment size, graduation rates and academic prestige) is superior to any large, national portfolio in the student housing industry.

In late 2018, a Scion affiliate, in partnership with sovereign investors GIC and CPPIB, completes the then-largest single-asset transaction in U.S. student housing history. University View is located in College Park, Maryland and was purchased for over $230 million. This acquisition grows Scion’s portfolio to over 60,000 beds and $5 billion of asset value.

Scion completes the recapitalization of successful partnerships with Fundamental Advisors, Virtus Real Estate and Arch Street Capital. A Scion affiliate, in partnership with sovereign investors GIC and CPPIB, completes three portfolio acquisitions. Scion affiliates own more than 46,000 beds and nearly $4 billion of student housing. At this point, Scion becomes the nation’s largest privately-held owner/operator of student housing.

The initial investment of a Scion affiliate, in partnership with sovereign investors GIC and CPPIB, is the $1.3 billion acquisition of University House Communities, a spin-off of the student housing platform of publicly-traded Inland American. Upon closing in mid-2016, Scion operates over 35,000 beds of student housing and has assets of over $2.5 billion.

Scion relocates to its new corporate headquarters to 444 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Eventually expanding to nearly 30,000 square feet of open and modern state of the art offices, with dedicated training facilities, this new space personifies Scion’s culture and commitment to its growing workforce and is a critical step in the growth that soon follows.

Responding to more complex client needs, as well as past clients requesting expanded services, Scion’s Advisory Services begins offering program management and P3 advisory and consulting, which has since grown into a major component of the group’s mandates. As ever more university clients find themselves dealing with operational and legal challenges of Fair Housing, Scion begins a specialized practice of advising and training on the application of Fair Housing in on-campus environments.

Recognizing that all available business intelligence tools for student housing marketing and operations are severely lacking, Scion sets out to build its own proprietary software to solve critical operational issues and prepare for scaled growth. Today, Scion has among the most sophisticated technologies available in all real estate, with applications expanded beyond the original leasing and marketing to encompass many aspects of operations, supporting investment underwriting and asset management, and providing data to benefit Scion’s Advisory Services clients.

Scion continues to acquire existing student housing and surpasses 10,000 beds owned in various joint ventures, with equity partners including Real Estate Capital Partners, Behringer Harvard, Arch Street Capital, NorthStar Realty Capital and Virtus Real Estate.

As part of a team that also includes local real estate firms American Nevada Companies and Vista Group, Scion is hired to manage the entirety of on-campus housing at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. This was and remains a unique arrangement by a public university engaging private firms to operate existing residence halls. Within one lease-up, the Scion-led team was able to dramatically increase occupancy (to 100%) and financial performance. This success continues through today.

With property values still depressed and many commercial real estate investors on the sidelines, Scion begins aggressively buying 5- to 15-year old purpose-built student housing. Though not particularly old, many of these properties need operational repositioning. In the course of these investments, Scion refines many of the operational strengths that are its hallmarks to this day.

Amid the global financial crisis, Scion acquires 1,575 beds in two communities at the University of Illinois from a receiver. With the properties less than 50% occupied and with deferred maintenance and operational challenges, Scion raises private funds and closes the acquisition in December 2008. Over the next few years, Scion will transform these assets, lease them to 100% and eventually sell them for a multiple of the original basis, standing today as one of the sector’s most successful operational turnarounds and economic returns.

Scion expands into new office space on West Hubbard Street in Chicago. Through several expansions and renovations, this space serves as Scion’s home for the next nine years.

Scion acquires its first private, off-campus student housing: the 160-bedroom “Lincoln Park Townhomes” in Normal, IL, serving Illinois State University. The purchase price is $5.1 million.

Building on the success of the University Center project, Scion grows its consulting practice across the United States. Scion becomes one of only a handful of firms in the country with a recognized expertise in student housing advisory and planning services. Scion also expands its land banking work on behalf of Illinois State University and California State University-Los Angeles.

Scion begins acquiring real estate as a land banking partner to DePaul University, with its first acquisition a single-family home adjacent to the DePaul campus. Scion also begins managing student housing when, in partnership with DePaul, it converts a 119-room extended-stay hotel on downtown Chicago’s Michigan Avenue into DePaul’s first housing outside its Lincoln Park campus. The management office in the building also serves as Scion’s headquarters.

Rob and Eric meet student housing veteran Eric Luskin, then serving as Director of Housing at DePaul University, who later joins Scion. Scion moves into its first office space at 368 West Huron Street in Chicago. By year-end, Scion has its first clients: Silver Lake College (Manitowoc, WI) and DePaul University (Chicago).