Student Housing Business is the voice of the student housing industry.
Issue link: https://studenthousingbusiness.epubxp.com/i/564824
than those in the U.S. We're con- stantly monitoring the opportuni- ties to deploy capital in Canada and are currently involved in two university afliated development projects in Toronto. We expect that early participants like us will be well positioned to capitalize on the growth and changes underway north of the border. SHB: What are the goals for Scion over the next few years? Lewittes: The bigger we get, the more important it is for us to dem- onstrate that we can achieve the same, or better, performance across the portfolio, and efectively inte- grate newly acquired properties by implementing the operational best practices we have developed over time. We have a diverse portfolio of properties which perform very consistently — a goal for which we strived over the last several years. We also believe there is sig- nifcant additional consolidation opportunity and that transaction volumes will continue to increase. Our plan is to be at the forefront of that activity, and I expect that the profle of our portfolio will con- tinue to evolve in terms of product type, age and distance to campus, with an unwavering commitment to major public university markets. I'm struck by one of your pre- paratory questions regarding the ongoing reputation that we have as a turnaround player — in fact, only half our portfolio represents value-add acquisitions. And when we talk about value-add, it's not so much a function of turnaround as it is the opportunity to deploy signifcant capital in repositioning acquired properties and enabling them to look and compete with the newest assets in any given market. As we have been able to grow with the beneft of more and better priced capital, we are pleased with our track record in these capital- based repositionings. However, we've achieved more value cre- ation through what we call oper- ational repositioning, which includes the implementation of our best practices, staf training programs and distinct culture at newly acquired properties. Each acquisition includes a unique busi- ness plan, regardless of whether the property is one, fve or 10 years old. This is what really drives our performance. SHB: To clarify where I was com- ing from with that question, I remember that Scion started in stu- dent housing with some oppor- tunistic endeavors. Some of the assets that you have acquired in recent years have been more core, operating assets, rather than value- add opportunities. Lewittes: You're exactly right; we developed that competence early on, and it has served us very well. SHB: There's no problem with hav- ing a reputation as a turnaround specialist if you always come out on top of the deal, right? Lewittes: Absolutely, but as you can appreciate, when we were a much smaller organization with limited access to capital, we took advantage of the opportunities that we were able to capitalize on. We were in a diferent fnancial posi- tion, and in order to play, and play competitively, we had to pursue a diferent kind of investment strat- egy. It's great because, as I said, we are proud of that competence and skillset, and it's one that we remain committed to today. It also forced us to develop what we believe is a best-in-class operating platform, as the performance bar was a little higher for older assets. Contrary to the notion some may have that high-end, brand new, pedestrian- to-campus developments efective- " We are very bullish on the fundamentals, and believe this continues to be a very attractive investment climate for student housing. THE SHB INTERVIE W STUDENT HOUSING BUSINESS .COM JULY/AUGUST 2015 77