Walker & Dunlop Refis Student Housing Portfolio With $380M Credit Facility
By Andrew Coen February 7, 2024 6:11 pm
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Scion Student Communities (SSC) has sealed a $380 million credit facility to refinance 11 off-campus student housing properties.
Walker & Dunlop (W&D) originated the Fannie Mae-backed credit facility financing for SSC, a joint venture led by The Scion Group. The deal, which closed in 35 days, was led by W&D’s Colin Coleman, Brendan Coleman and Will Baker.
The transaction marked the fourth Fannie Mae credit facility for the sponsorship, with the new facility enabling it to eliminate all floating-rate exposure in addition to refinancing “several” maturing “one-off” loans, according to W&D, which has now originated more than $3 billion of debt on behalf of Scion.
“It will provide maximum flexibility and stability as the venture navigates the current markets and charts their exciting next steps,” Colin Coleman, a managing director of multifamily finance at W&D, said in a statement.
The SSC student housing properties are mostly located near campuses in the Southern U.S. and include The Republic at Lubbock (Texas Tech University); Redpoint San Marcos (Texas State University); Redpoint Denton (University of North Texas); Cottages of Clemson (Clemson University); University House Acadiana (University of Louisiana at Lafayette); Cambridge at Southern (Georgia Southern University); Redpoint Gainesville (University of Florida); University House Fayetteville (University of Arkansas); and Ion Tuscaloosa (University of Alabama).
The student housing portfolio in the refinancing also involves The Radian near the University of Pennsylvania and the Alight State College complex near Penn State University.
The Scion Group is the largest owner/operator of off-campus student housing communities globally with a portfolio in excess of 80,000 beds.
“This complex transaction, which spanned two credit facilities and over $2.3 billion of gross asset value, achieved multiple strategic goals for the partnership,” Clayton Merritt, senior vice president of capital and investments at The Scion Group, said in a statement.
Andrew Coen can be reached at acoen@commercialobserver.com
