RealSource Properties Launches Multifamily REIT

RealSource has launched a multifamily REIT. The $390 million REIT will target multifamily investments with a value-add real estate strategy and will leverage its vertically integrated platform to both acquire and manage properties.

The REIT already has 10 existing properties, representing 2,897 apartment units in Ohio, Texas, North Carolina and Colorado. The REIT is focused on acquiring properties with strong core underlying fundamentals in markets experiencing a supply-demand imbalance and where a value-add business plan can be executed. The value-add business plan could include asset management initiatives, property improvement plans, and a series of other contributing variables, according to the firm.

This year, the REIT expects those dynamics to be prevalent, with Nate Hanks, CCIM, CEO of RealSource Properties saying, “In 2022, we anticipate continued strength for the rental product since demand outweighs supply. To be sure, the pandemic caused dramatic demographic shifts, which pose some lesser-known threats that are beginning to evolve in the industry.”

There has been a lot of notable activity in the apartment REIT space in the last year. In December, affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate entered into an agreement with Bluerock Residential Growth REIT to acquire its multifamily asset in an all-cash transaction valued at $3.6 billion, or $24.25 per share. Under the terms of the agreement, Blackstone will acquire 30 multifamily properties of approximately 11,000 units as well as a loan book secured by 24 multifamily assets. The properties are garden-style assets built, on average, in 2000. The majority of the properties are located in Atlanta, Phoenix, Orlando, Denver and Austin.

Then Apple’s new office developments in Raleigh and Austin are incentivizing more REIT investment. Apple’s new R&D campuses in Research Triangle, NC, and Austin, TX—part of the tech giant’s five-year plan to invest $430 billion in the USbare accelerating the growth of multifamily markets in the two metros, which in 2021 were among the top 20 multifamily markets in the US. And, just this month, JLL Income Property Trust acquired a newly-constructed, luxury, class A apartment community in the northern Orlando suburb of Casselberry, FL for $154 million. The 384-unit, lakefront apartment community, Jefferson Lake Howell, is located within 10 miles of downtown Orlando. The garden-style community offers access to Highway 4 and State Rd. 17, and it is situated near a Publix-anchored shopping center, a Walmart Supercenter, entertainment options and highly-rated schools.