Scion, PGIM Real Estate buy two US student housing communities

Scion, PGIM Real Estate buy two US student housing communities
Verve at the main campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J Image : Courtesy of Scion

A joint venture between The Scion Group and PGIM Real Estate has acquired two Class A student housing communities totaling 1,244 bedrooms.

The joint venture acquired ‘Verve’ located at the main campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. and ‘Aero on 24th’ located the University of Florida campus market in Gainesville, Fla.

Scion and PGIM Real Estate plan to expand their partnership in the U.S. student housing sector, said Scion in a press release.

“We are very excited about our new venture with PGIM Real Estate and the opportunity to partner with another world-class institutional investor,” said Robert Bronstein, president of Scion.

”This transaction is strategic for Scion, enabling the company to expand its existing presence in the University of Florida market while also adding Rutgers to its portfolio,” the company said.

“The addition of these newly developed, well-situated properties in highly sought-after university markets expands our reach to a leading northeast US campus market at Rutgers, and marks our fourth investment at the University of Florida, further augmenting Scion’s leading industry footprint,” said Avi Lewittes, Scion’s chief investment officer.

“This transaction presented us with a compelling opportunity to launch a new strategic partnership with a best-in-class operator in the dynamic student housing sector through the acquisition of two well-located properties at top-tier universities,” said Darin Bright, managing director and senior portfolio manager for PGIM Real Estate’s U.S. core-plus investment strategy. “The breadth, depth and experience of the Scion platform – as well as the firm’s robust data and analytics capabilities – are a perfect match for PGIM Real Estate as we continue to grow our extensive joint venture investment program and identify opportunities to capitalize on strong fundamentals within the alternative property sectors.”