Scion Student Communities Acquires New Student Housing Community Near University of Texas at Austin

AUSTIN, TX - Scion Student Communities, a student housing joint venture between Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, GIC and The Scion Group, announced its acquisition of MUZE, a newly developed student housing community serving the University of Texas at Austin. 

The property was completed in August 2019 and is located in Austin’s West Campus neighborhood, just two blocks from the university campus. Among the highest-end properties in the market, MUZE offers one- through five-person apartments, a top-of-the-line amenity package including a rooftop pool and sky lounge, and extensive study and recreation spaces.

Scion Student Communities acquired MUZE from a partnership of Kayne Anderson Real Estate and the project’s developer, Parallel Company. The transaction represents Scion Student Communities’ second acquisition in Austin and complements its adjacent sister community, University House Austin, which was acquired as part of Scion Student Communities’ inaugural $1.3 billion acquisition of University House Communities in 2016.

“We are thrilled to be adding MUZE to our joint venture’s national portfolio of high-quality student housing communities,” said Rob Bronstein, President of Scion. “We are particularly excited about expanding our presence in the leading UT Austin market with another Class-A property. We also continue to be very impressed by the quality and design of Parallel’s developments and welcome the addition of another of their properties onto our platform.”

Since its inception in January 2016, the Scion Student Communities joint venture has completed over US$4 billion of investments, comprising 75 student housing communities in 52 top-tier university markets, which include over 48,000 bedrooms. The average effective age of the portfolio is less than five years and over 70% of the assets are located within one mile of their respective campuses.