Japanese Investor Acquires 20th Largest Multifamily Development Firm In U.S.
Developer Crescent Communities is being bought by a Japanese company.
The acquisition by Sumitomo Forestry America Inc., a subsidiary of Sumitomo Forestry Co., will take Crescent Communities' name and stay headquartered in Charlotte under existing management.
“We are excited to partner with Sumitomo as their investment will continue Crescent Communities’ growth strategy and enhance our capital structure,” Crescent CEO Todd Mansfield said in a statement. “This acquisition is evidence of Sumitomo’s favorable view of our multi-product platform and geographic footprint in high growth markets. We look forward to leveraging their extensive real estate expertise, financial strength and global network to support our ongoing commitment to unleash value for all stakeholders.”
Sumitomo Forestry America is a housing and wood products corporation. Crescent has been a developer of residential, commercial and mixed-use communities for more than 55 years.
The acquisition will include Crescent’s multifamily, single-family, and commercial and mixed-use businesses. Crescent Communities’ multifamily operation includes 20 communities totaling 6,400 units under the name “NOVEL by Crescent Communities.”
The company’s single-family homebuilding business, Fielding Homes, includes more than 1,700 single-family properties in six communities in Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham.
The commercial and mixed-use business development portfolio includes nearly 1.5M SF of assets in the Sun Belt, including the 742K SF Ally Charlotte Center project in Charlotte. Sumitomo Forestry America is also receiving Crescent’s development pipeline of nearly $2B of real estate projects, including 5,500 multifamily units, 2,200 single-family units, and 2.5M SF of office and industrial assets.
Crescent Communities' other projects include the River District, Crescent Atherton, Crescent NOVEL NoDa and Crescent Montford Park in Charlotte; Bigby in Cool Springs, Tennessee; West Lake Alliance in Houston; and a mixed-use project at 14th and Spring in Atlanta.
Sumitomo Forestry Group is Japan’s third-largest private landowner, with more than 118,500 acres of forest in mountains in Japan.
“Crescent Communities has successfully established itself as an integrated platform of diverse real estate assets with a significant development pipeline that provides a long runway for future growth,” Sumitomo Forestry America President Atsushi Iwasaki said in a statement. “We have been pursuing further expansion of our U.S. real estate business and the acquisition of Crescent Communities is a perfect fit with our investment philosophy. With favorable demographics, including outsized employment growth, Crescent Communities’ markets are well positioned to support healthy long-term real estate fundamentals. The Crescent Communities team brings a wealth of real estate development experience to our organization, and we look forward to our new partnership with Crescent Communities.”
Terms were not disclosed.
