A joint venture newly formed by a real estate fund of Ares Management and The Scion Group has acquired a U.S. student housing portfolio comprising 12 properties with 7,578 beds from Harrison Street Asset Management for approximately $910 million. Scion will serve as the operating partner for the joint venture.

Transaction Details: Largest Student Housing Portfolio Deal of 2026 to Date The portfolio is located near 12 universities across 10 states, serving well-known institutions including the University of Florida, Auburn University, the University of Notre Dame, The Ohio State University, and James Madison University. This transaction is the largest student housing portfolio sale completed so far in 2026.

Robert Bronstein, CEO of Scion, stated, "This transaction is a significant milestone for Scion. We are establishing a partnership with Ares, one of the world's leading asset management firms, while Scion's owned portfolio now exceeds 105,000 beds, making Scion the largest owner of student housing globally."

Seller Harrison Street: Result of a Decade-Long Strategy Harrison Street built this portfolio over more than a decade through five different fund vehicles. Christopher Merrill, Co-Founder and Global CEO of the company, noted that this deal "highlights the continued depth of institutional demand for student housing allocations, driven by durable fundamentals, constrained new supply, and strong enrollment trends at leading universities."

Ben Mohns, Global Head of Real Estate Asset Management at Harrison Street, added that executing a transaction of this scale in the current environment "speaks to the quality of the communities we have invested in and the enduring investor interest in institutional-grade student housing portfolios."

Industry Trend: Accelerating Institutional Capital Inflow into Student Housing This transaction reflects a broader structural trend in the student housing industry: a historically fragmented market is undergoing consolidation, with institutional capital continuing to flow into operationally intensive, demand-driven real estate sectors. Since 2016, Scion has deployed approximately $10.2 billion in capital, with $3.4 billion deployed in the past 24 months, solidifying its position as one of the most active operators and asset managers in the sector.

Andrew Holm, Head of U.S. Diversified Equity for Ares Real Estate, said, "By combining our scaled real estate platform with Scion's strong capabilities, we believe we are well-positioned to unlock value in this portfolio and capitalize on the ongoing institutionalization trend in the student housing sector."

Ares Real Estate is one of the world's largest and most diversified vertically integrated real estate managers, with approximately $117 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2026. Founded in 1999, Scion has become the largest off-campus student housing owner and operator globally. Its portfolio currently encompasses 161 communities across 90 markets, with over 105,000 beds.