Walton Global Enters BTR Market With 81K Acres of Land
The company is in advanced negotiations to construct build-to-rent communities of 2,500 units throughout the US.
Walton Global Holdings has entered the build-to-rent (BTR) sector, leveraging its more than 81,000 acres of land throughout the US to create near-term opportunities for single-family home rental developments.
With $3.4 billion of assets under management under its belt, Walton is one of the largest pure-play residential landowners in North America.
Walton said it has identified 17 near-term opportunities and is in advanced negotiations with a select group of nationally recognized builders and developers to construct build-to-rent communities with approximately 2,500 units throughout the country. Walton plans to construct additional projects within their network of more than 180 master planned communities and through new land acquisitions.
“Walton has three essential advantages that we expect to deliver true value to this market and to investors: available land, experience in development of lots and a vast network of homebuilding relationships,” said Paul Megler, executive vice president of Walton who is leading the build-to-rent initiative for the company.
The company is one of the latest players to join the BTR foray as the single family rental housing space continues to gain momentum, as well as institutional investment.
Seeing BTR as a growth opportunity, GTIS is shifting its focus to the space, developing large-scale purpose-built single-family and townhome rental communities.
In addition, Crescent Communities is launching a build-for-rent platform led by a former senior executive at Atlanta-based FirstKey Homes. The company’s BFR initial strategy centers around four major cities—Atlanta, Charlotte, Charleston, and Raleigh—and each community will consist of up to 200 residences, with a combination of three- and four-bedroom townhomes and/or detached single-family houses.
Crescent’s BFR initiative will benefit—and likely scale—from its affiliate relationship with homebuilders in the Sumitomo Forestry portfolio, which operate across the US and collectively build over 10,000 homes annually.