CHICAGO — Investment management firm Harrison Street has sold a 14-property student housing portfolio totaling 8,724 beds. Affiliates of The Scion Group and an unnamed institutional investor purchased the portfolio for $893 million. Situated near 13 universities across 11 states, the student housing developments serve colleges including the University of Arkansas, Texas A&M University and the University of Missouri. Chicago-based Harrison Street was founded in 2005 and has invested across the seniors housing, student housing, build-to-rent, healthcare, life sciences and self-storage sectors. The company’s current portfolio includes roughly $56 billion of assets under management. Since its inception, Harrison Street has invested more than $22 billion across 410 student housing properties. According to a statement issued by Christopher Merrill, the company’s co-founder, chairman and CEO, this transaction illustrates a heightened demand for student housing among investors. The Scion Group is the largest owner-operator of off-campus student housing communities worldwide, with a portfolio of 140 communities. The Chicago-based firm currently has more than $10 billion of assets under management. “This portfolio augments Scion’s position in seven of our current university markets, as well as adds six new markets we have long targeted, bringing Scion to nearly 92,000 beds across 82 leading campus …
