Bluerock Taps Carlton for $250M Recap

NEW YORK CITY-Carlton ADVISORY Services has been retained by investment and asset management firm Bluerock Real Estate LLC, to recapitalize a 2,400-unit apartment portfolio valued at $250 million, GlobeSt.com has exclusively learned. The announcement came from Carlton chairman Howard Michaels; locally based Bluerock has assembled the portfolio through mostly off-market transactions over the past 20 months.  

Located throughout Texas and the Southeast, the 10-asset portfolio is 97% leased, according to Carlton. It includes apartment properties in San Antonio, Nashville, downtown Atlanta, Austin, TX and Chapel Hill, NC.

Stuart Lederer, managing director at Carlton, says the recap offers “a unique opportunity to acquire a meaningful interest in a diversified, high-yielding portfolio with very favorable debt and the potential for significant upside.” He adds that Bluerock’s “institutional track record and demonstrated ability to source off-market transactions and distressed opportunities creates a unique opportunity to buy into a quality portfolio today, while taking advantage of their strategic buying opportunities going forward.” Since 2004, Bluerock has sponsored more than $800 million of office and apartment transactions, including approximately 2,800 multifamily units.

Lederer says Carlton plans to bring in a qualified investor to recap the portfolio, which will offer that investor “a meaningful cash-on-cash return from day one.” In addition, the investor will have the opportunity to participate, on a first-look basis, in Bluerock’s planned expansion. A key element is a pipeline aggregating another 2,000-plus units in the Southeast with a combined estimated value of over $120 million.