CHICAGO—CA Residential LLC, the multifamily investment and development division of CA Ventures, together with The Habitat Co., has just launched a programmatic partnership through which Habitat will assume management of a five-building, 1,215-unit apartment portfolio owned by CA. In addition, the Chicago-based firms will pursue co-development and investment opportunities in select markets throughout the US, targeting market-rate properties between $40 million and $120 million.

“Almost everything we do is through some form of partnership,” Matt Fiascone, president of Habitat, tells GlobeSt.com. “This has been the company's M.O. for the last 45 years.” So in at least one respect this partnership is nothing new. But it is the first time that Habitat has formed a collaboration that will stretch beyond one or two properties. Furthermore, through its student housing arm, CA has developed significant expertise in many markets, and Habitat will now have many opportunities to expand beyond its Chicago base, one of its top goals.

“You can't be a dynamic company in institutional grade real estate by staying focused on one metro area,” Fiascone adds. Habitat does develop and manage affordable housing and public housing, but much of its work revolves around market rate multifamily projects of more than 400 units, and “you can develop only so many 400-plus unit buildings in Chicago.”

The companies will focus on US metropolitan regions with a proper balance of supply and demand, growing populations, and expanding jobs markets. Fiascone says Minneapolis, Suburban St. Louis, Phoenix, Atlanta and Portland, among others, will all garner a lot of attention from the partners.

The companies' partnership grew out of their work on 1136 S. Wabash Ave., CA's 26-story, 320-unit rental tower in Chicago's burgeoning South Loop neighborhood. Habitat recently signed onto that project as a consultant, Fiascone says, and will manage it when it opens in 2018. “That was when we came to the conclusion that the companies were a great match in terms of skills, experience and personalities.” And a few weeks ago, Habitat began managing The Buckler, CA's new 11-story, 207-unit luxury rental community located in downtown Milwaukee.

“In working with Habitat first on 1136 S. Wabash and then The Buckler, it was evident to everyone on our side why Habitat is a leader in multifamily development and management,” says Tom Scott, chief executive officer of CA Ventures. “We immediately recognized the synergies between the two businesses and how we could work together to gain economy of scale and achieve our respective growth objectives more efficiently and profitably.”

The firms also match up in other ways. “They have a more active development pipeline than we do,” says Fiascone, but Habitat, which manages around 25,000 units in six states, has a more robust management operation. “It's a perfect combination.”

In addition to 1136 and The Buckler, Habitat will initially oversee operations at the following CA Residential communities, which are in various stages of development:

8 E. Huron in Chicago – a 26-story, 102-unit luxury apartment tower in the Gold Coast with 2,756 square feet of boutique retail space, 8 E. Huron is steps from popular shops and restaurants along Chicago's Magnificent Mile. Delivery is scheduled for mid-2017.
212 Meramec – a 26-story, 250-unit high-end rental building adjacent to the MetroLink Blue Line in Clayton, a suburb of St. Louis. The community is scheduled to open in mid- 2017.
RISE at Prospect Park – a 15-story, 336-unit apartment tower located in a mixed-use development five blocks east of the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis. The grocery-anchored, transit-oriented project is slated to deliver in early 2018.

In addition to 1136 and The Buckler, Habitat will initially oversee operations at the following CA Residential communities, which are in various stages of development:

8 E. Huron in Chicago – a 26-story, 102-unit luxury apartment tower in the Gold Coast with 2,756 square feet of boutique retail space, 8 E. Huron is steps from popular shops and restaurants along Chicago's Magnificent Mile. Delivery is scheduled for mid-2017.
212 Meramec – a 26-story, 250-unit high-end rental building adjacent to the MetroLink Blue Line in Clayton, a suburb of St. Louis. The community is scheduled to open in mid- 2017.
RISE at Prospect Park – a 15-story, 336-unit apartment tower located in a mixed-use development five blocks east of the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis. The grocery-anchored, transit-oriented project is slated to deliver in early 2018.

Instant Insights /

CA Ventures and Habitat Forge Partnership for $600M Portfolio

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