IRVING, TX-JPI, winning the largest management pact in its history, has struck a strategic alliance with Rreef North America for 59 multifamily properties with 20,000 units in 19 states. The San Francisco-based owner plans to set up a multifamily asset management group while its existing 490 on-site associates are being offered jobs with JPI.
"Our intent is 100% retention of the on-site Rreef associates and the majority of corporate support," says JoAnn Blaylock, divisional president and managing partner of JPI's property operations. She tells GlobeSt.com that the transition of properties, people and technology begins Sept. 1 and should be complete by the end of November.
The locally based JPI is getting the keys to all but 13 properties in Rreef's multifamily portfolio. JPI is the preferred, but not the exclusive property manager as result of a handful of existing pacts. The balance also includes assets ticketed for disposition.
The portfolio properties, mostly late 1980s product, average 93% occupancy. Blaylock says many properties are now being repositioned. JPI's new role will be to work with Rreef's new asset group to determine renovation needs on a case by case basis.
Blaylock says executives from both camps will be crisscrossing the US to meet with associates and review the properties in the coming weeks. "The strength of both organizations will really create new opportunities for the associates and add value to the properties," she explains. She says both companies are OneSite clients of Carrollton, TX-based RealPage Inc., but part of the value-add plan will include adding some operational modules to Rreef's platform.
In January, JPI started lobbying the industry for third-party management contracts. The Rreef contract is the largest of 11 that's been picked up this year and the largest in JPI's 17-year history, according to Blaylock. Prior to the deal, JPI managed two assets for Rreef: Willow Grove at Danbury in Danbury, CT and Jefferson at Wheeler Hills in Marlborough, MA.
"This new strategic alliance gives us an important critical mass to best leverage our resources and continue to grow nationwide," J. Frank Miller III, JPI chairman and CEO, says in a press release.
It's admittedly too early to tell, but the alliance could result in development as well. All Blaylock can say about the future is "it's a strategic relationship with long-term future prospects."
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.