Scion Student Communities, a joint venture of The Scion Group, the General Investment Corporation of Singapore and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, has landed a $380 million refinancing for 11 student housing properties located across eight states. Walker & Dunlop provided the credit facility.
Over nearly a decade, Walker & Dunlop has originated more than $3 billion in debt for Scion, which says it is the largest owner and operator of off-campus student housing communities globally with more than 80,000 beds in its portfolio.
Led by Colin Coleman, Brendan Coleman and Will Baker, the Walker & Dunlop team structured a Fannie Mae credit facility for the portfolio which allowed the borrower to eliminate all floating rate exposure in their original credit facility while refinancing several maturing one-off loans. The transaction process was expedited with the rate locked and deal closed in 35 days, according to Walker & Dunlop.
Clayton Merritt, senior vice president of capital and investments at The Scion Group, said in a prepared statement Walker & Dunlop was instrumental in originating financing for the JV’s four large portfolio acquisitions dating back to 2016.
Refinanced properties
Three of the properties refinanced as part of the Fannie Mae transaction are in Texas. They are: Redpoint Denton in Denton, Texas, located near the University of North Texas; Redpoint San Marcos in San Marcos, Texas, located near Texas State University; and The Republic at Lubbock in Lubbock, Texas, located near Texas Tech University.
The remaining student housing properties are:
- Ion Tuscaloosa in Tuscaloosa, Ala., near the University of Alabama
- University House Fayetteville in Fayetteville, Ark., near the University of Arkansas
- Redpoint Gainesville in Gainesville, Fla., near the University of Florida
- Cambridge at Southern – The Pines in Statesboro, Ga. near Georgia Southern University
- University House Acadiana in Lafayette, La., near the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
- Alight State College in State College, Pa., near Pennsylvania State University
- The Radian in Philadelphia, near the University of Pennsylvania
- Cottages of Clemson in Central, S.C., near Clemson University
