Greystar Aims $300M Development Pipeline at DC

McLEAN, VA-Greystar Real Estate is moving dirt on five development sites in the DC area for a total $300 million pipeline. The company, which has been aggressively investing in the DC area, gave GlobeSt.com an overview of its strategy earlier this year.

Now Kevin Sheehan, managing director of real estate for Greystar, tells GlobeSt.com that the 1,460 units are expected to deliver over the next 24 to 36 months. “We are actively seeking both development and acquisition opportunities here,” he says. Greystar also hopes to invest an additional $50 million to $100 million in multifamily acquisitions in the Mid-Atlantic but with a heavy concentration on the DC area, says Doug Root, senior director of acquisitions. “That translates into $200 million to $300 million in purchasing power,” he adds.

Greystar made two recent apartment trades in the area: The Aventine Fort Totten in Washington, DC and The Warwick in Silver Spring, MD. The company acquired the Fort Totten property in a note sale on the courthouse steps, taking the property for $55 million. The Silver Spring asset was acquired for $65.1 million. Both are emblematic of Greystar’s value-add approach, with Fort Totten being the ultimate value-add play. The Warwick’s “value creation is going to be on the physical asset,” Sheehan says. “We are doing a full reposition of the asset.”

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In general Greystar is beefing up its presence here, says Debbie Webre, senior managing director for the Northeast. The firm has spent about $1.2 million to grow its office, focusing on adding positions or otherwise investing in its property management, investment, development, marketing and training.

Property management is in fact a key growth driver, she says. The number of apartment communities under management has risen 51%, to a total of 47. New management agreements have been inked throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, including Boston and Philadelphia. In the DC area, it has picked up contracts in Prince George County, Laurel and Columbia, MD; Washington, DC; and Ashburn and Gainesville, VA. It also has a management agreement for an apartment building in Williamsburg, VA.