Harrison Street sells two student housing portfolios for $1.9bn

Harrison Street sells two student housing portfolios for $1.9bn

Harrison Street has sold two student housing portfolios for a combined $1.9 billion.

The portfolios comprise 37 properties and nearly 24,000 beds across 19 states and 31 universities.

The company sold 12 properties to Global Student Accommodation (GSA) and 25 properties to a joint venture affiliated with The Scion Group (Scion).

Christopher Merrill, Harrison Street’s Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, “The two large-scale transactions reflect Harrison Street’s longstanding strategy of acquiring or developing individual assets at leading universities, executing on defined business plans, and exiting via strategic portfolio sales. GSA and Scion are among the world’s most sophisticated and well-respected real estate investors and operators, and these dispositions are emblematic of our strong student housing track record and ability to create value for our investors and partners.”

Merrill added, “Importantly, I am incredibly proud of our world-class team which has been working diligently for over a year on these highly complex portfolio dispositions that involved multiple partners and numerous counterparties, and closed within a four day span of each other. We remain committed to providing high quality student housing facilities to universities across the U.S. and in attractive European markets backed by strong demographics.”

Harrison Street said it continues to be a strong supporter of the purpose-built student housing market having invested in 190,000 beds throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe since inception.

”As of September 30, 2021, the firm has acquired nearly $1.4 billion in student housing assets this year at leading institutions such as Arizona State University, Cornell University, University of North Carolina and University of Calgary,” said the company in a statement. 

”Since inception, Harrison Street has invested approximately $17 billion across 357 properties in education and student housing assets. Additionally, the firm has sold more than 173 student housing properties for a gross transaction value of approximately $7 billion.”