Brookfield Buys $845M Multifamily Portfolio From BREIT
Brookfield Properties joined a wave of investors banking on an impending resurgence in apartment demand with an $845M purchase of multifamily properties in Nevada, North Carolina, Arizona and Ohio.
The company picked up the eight-property portfolio from Blackstone REIT earlier this month, CoStar News reported. Four of the properties are in Las Vegas, while the remaining four are in Phoenix; Columbus, Ohio; and Charlotte and Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
As a subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management, Brookfield Properties has holdings in the hospitality, industrial, office and retail sectors in addition to multifamily. Its newly acquired properties are:
- The 1,064-unit The Gardens in Columbus, Ohio.
- The 604-unit San Valiente in Phoenix.
- The 480-unit Xander 3900 in Las Vegas
- The 480-unit The Met in Las Vegas.
- The 452-unit Ashford Place in Charlotte, North Carolina.
- The 411-unit Crosstown at Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
- The 368-unit Vintage Pointe in Las Vegas.
- The 284-unit Monaco Park in Las Vegas.
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Maynard Nexsen served as legal counsel for the sales.
“This transaction represents a terrific outcome for our investors and demonstrates the strong institutional demand for well-located, quality assets,” Blackstone said in an emailed statement. “Rental housing remains one of our highest-conviction themes, and we continue to see strong fundamentals in attractive markets.”
The acquisitions come as multifamily executives bet big that an oversupply issue that hit apartment rents is on its way to resolution amid a national falloff in construction starts. ECI Group announced plans to grow its multifamily presence in Texas and the southeast U.S. following an influx of capital and the formation of a new debt platform.
“Timing is everything in the real estate business, and we feel like, particularly on the acquisition side, it's been one of the better fundamental times to buy in a while,” ECI Group Chief Acquisitions Officer Scott Levitt told Bisnow earlier this month.
AvalonBay Communities, Mid-America Apartment Communities and Thompson Thrift are also expected to grow their portfolios this year following calls for capital and other commitments of more than $1.7B.
“We … remain convinced that the spring leasing season will usher in the start of a recovery cycle with more favorable leasing conditions as demand and absorption trends across our markets remain strong and the volume of new supply deliveries steadily declines,” Mid-America Apartment Communities CEO Eric Bolton said on the company’s Q3 earnings call last month.
Like Mid-America Apartment Communities, UDR and Equity Residential invested in development pipelines and significant outlays for acquisitions in Q3. Equity spent nearly $1.3B on 14 acquisitions, according to its Q3 earnings call last month.
FRIDAY, NOV. 22, 3:55 P.M. CT: This story has been updated to include an emailed statement from Blackstone.
