PHOENIX, AZ. Downtown Phoenix Student Housing (DPSH) has announced that the Taylor Place student housing community has exceeded its debt service coverage requirement for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2014, for the first time since the project was completed in August 2009. For the past several years, Scion has served as financial consultant to DPSH, the project’s non-profit owner, in fulfillment of bond covenants.

Located adjacent to the Arizona State University Downtown Phoenix campus and opening in two phases in 2008 and 2009, Taylor Place suffered from lower than projected occupancy and income as Phoenix was acutely affected by the economic recession. Building on strategies put in place by ASU Downtown, Capstone On-Campus and DPSH, Scion recommended several marketing, occupancy management and operating cost-saving measures to improve financial performance. As ASU Downtown enrollment increased, the property adopted several of Scion’s suggestions to increase its capture rate and accelerate income.

Scion’s role grew to include variance reports, financial projections and cash flow models. Scion also developed a weekly marketing tracking protocol to improve the quality of leasing information. After implementing these improvements, Taylor Place opened the Fall 2013 semester over-subscribed, which contributed to finishing the fiscal year above its debt coverage requirement. The project is now expected to continue exceeding the requirement for the foreseeable future.

“Our collaboration with DPSH highlights the strengths of Scion’s management consulting platform,” said Scion Senior Vice President and Principal Eric Luskin. “With trusting collaborative partners in DPSH, ASU-Downtown and Capstone, we were able to develop strategies based on best practices culled from Scion’s advisory experience and from our own nationwide operating portfolio.”