Northern Michigan University (NMU) enrolls 9,000 students and is the largest institution of higher education in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. In 2011, NMU engaged a Scion-led team to update its campus housing master plan, including consideration of replacement and expansion. Scion recommended an implementation plan that included 1,200 beds in two phases of renewal completed through a public-private partnership, and NMU went on to issue an RFP for a potential development partner to complete the plan in 2015. Once it had shortlisted prospective partners, NMU recognized that it required additional advisory expertise from its Financial Advisor and engaged Scion.
Working with NMU and its Financial Advisor, Scion prepared questions and reviewed answers from shortlist firms, provided an evaluation of the aspects of each proposal, participated in shortlist interviews, prepared a written comparison of the three finalist firms, and participated in the Board of Trustees meeting to approve the preferred development partner – all within the span of three weeks. Scion subsequently advised the University in its negotiation of an executed pre-development agreement, as well as concession and operating agreements that were approved by the University’s Board of Trustees. The $80M community – the first university P3 student housing structure of its kind in the state of Michigan – opened in 2017.