Ares, Scion JV Pays $435M for 4 Student Housing Communities
The joint venture's second acquisition in four months prices out at roughly $188,000 per bed near three Sun Belt flagship campuses.
Ares Management and The Scion Group’s joint venture has paid $435 million for four off-campus student housing communities totaling 2,316 beds, buying out developer Schenk+ near Texas State University, the University of Georgia and the University of Tennessee.
Why it matters
The deal prices out to roughly $188,000 per bed, a number worth benchmarking for anyone underwriting student housing right now. Student housing is one of the few property types still trading at scale while offices and much of retail sit frozen, and this is the JV’s second big-ticket purchase in four months. That repeat buying, at similar per-bed pricing to their May deal, signals institutional capital still sees durable rent growth in Sun Belt flagship markets with capped new supply, even as broader multifamily lending stays tight. For developers weighing a student housing exit or a new pre-lease deal near a major public university, this is a live comp, not a stale pre-rate-hike number.
The numbers
The $435 million price covers four communities with 2,316 beds combined, sold by Schenk+, the development firm led by Jared Schenk. Inland Real Estate Investment’s Nati Kiferbaum represented the seller. It follows the same Ares-Scion venture’s $910 million purchase of a 12-property, 7,578-bed portfolio from Harrison Street Asset Management in May, which included assets near the University of Florida, James Madison University, Arizona State and Auburn. Scion Group CEO Robert Bronstein called the Schenk+ trade “a comprehensive exit for him and his investors.”
What’s next
Two major buys in four months point to an active acquisition pipeline rather than a one-off, and the JV’s stated focus, off-campus housing near universities with strong enrollment and limited new supply, gives a clear read on where it will look next. For national developers and owners with student housing near capacity-constrained flagship campuses, the pricing on both deals is now a public marker for what institutional buyers will pay, and a signal that debt and equity are still available for the right campus profile even as other asset classes struggle to trade.