Private equity investment is gobbling up an increasing share of apartment units, now accounting for at least a tenth of all ownership in the United States, with most of it concentrated in the Sun Belt region.

Multifamily Apartment Building

Private equity firms own about 8,200 apartment buildings comprised of over 2.2 million units, according to a Private Equity Stakeholder Project report. Of the 121 big private equity firms PESP tracked, the 10 largest apartment owners collectively share 41% of them, a total of 900,000 units across the country.

Blackstone is the largest private equity owner of apartments in the U.S. with over 230,000 units. Greystar follows with 138,000 units. Other major firms owning vast swaths of units include Starwood Capital, Related Cos., Cortland and Brookfield.

Sixty-two percent of these units, or 1.4 million, were purchased since 2018, and almost 930,000 since 2021.

Blackstone picked up 58% of its units in or after 2021, and more than 75% were acquired since 2018. Starwood bought 53% of its portfolio in or after 2021 and 77% since 2018.

More than half of all units are located in five states: Texas, Florida, California, Georgia and North Carolina. Texas has the largest share of private equity-owned units at over 440,000 units across 1,500 properties.

Four of the top five — Texas, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina — also saw the largest population growth from 2020 to 2024.

The top 10 metropolitan areas with the largest private equity investment are Dallas; Atlanta; Houston; Denver; Austin; Phoenix; Orlando, Florida; Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina; and Tampa, Florida.

Those metros are home to 860,000 units owned by private equity, with Dallas seeing the largest share at 191,431 units and 598 properties, followed by Atlanta, where private equity owns 141,500 units and 466 properties.

The report also tracked the cost-burden impact of the private equity sector on these markets.

The Tampa, Florida, metro, where 23.4% of apartments are owned by private equity, saw a 20.8% increase in households spending 30% or more of their income on housing between 2019 and 2023. The percentage of households exceeding that spending figure rose from 53% to 64% over those four years.

Multifamily developer Northwood Ravin has something for everyone just outside Charlotte. The Lodges at Fort Mill, a 261-unit rental community off Fort Mill Highway, just east of Indian Land includes 118 apartments, 80 townhomes and 63 single-family homes.

The community includes a mix of two—and three-bedroom homes and townhomes, as well as walkup corner apartments with one—and two-bedroom floor plans.

Northwood Ravin paid $8.5 million in 2021 for the project site.

The Charlotte Business Journal reports that Northwood Ravin came in at No. 2 on the list ranking the market’s most active commercial real estate developers based on five-year activity. The developer delivered just over 4 million square feet of projects locally, and around 90% of that square footage was multifamily development.

On December 1, the Property Markets Group will start allowing tenants into one of the complexes 460 units. 70 of those will be set aside for co-living, “rent-by-bed” tenants. The 31-story mixed-use tower is at the northwest corner of 6th and Peachtree streets.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports Property Markets Group paid $20.3 million for the site at 811 Peachtree St. in late 2021. Society Atlanta also features two full floors of leasable office space and 14,500 square feet of ground-level retail space.

Pricing for available co-living units starts at roughly $1,500, according to the property’s website. Pricing for available studio units begins at $1,630. 

Society Atlanta features a coworking hub, an eighth-floor pool deck and terrace space and a more than 10,000-square-foot gym equipped with a spin studio and dedicated space for private workout classes.

Corner Lot is ready to start taking reservations for its new 320-unit apartment development in Northside Jacksonville.

The community is located at 12525 Tibbets Lane. The $75 million project is located directly across from the Amazon Fulfillment and Distribution Centers off Duval Road and offers easy access to major highways and the Jacksonville International Airport.

Avion is also near the newly completed 216-bed UF Health North hospital and the new Jacksonville North VA Clinic and Domiciliary.

The developer has designated 30% of the units as workforce housing, the rest at market rate.

Avion consists of eight four-story buildings with elevators and will offer a variety of one-, two-, and three-bedroom floor plans.

Avion is funded by First Coast Real Estate Partners, a private equity firm specializing in real estate development investing.

Summit Contracting Group Inc. is the project’s general contractor, Group 4 Design is the architect, and Adkinson Engineering, P.A. is the engineer.

Aja Constructions paid $13.5 million for land off Fayetteville Road just south of the Highway 70 split. The Town of Garner rezoned the 43-acre site in late 2023 to allow for 654 multifamily units and 40,000 square feet of retail space.

The Triangle Business Journal reports a master plan was submitted with the rezoning plan that indicates the project will be called Vintage Garner. The plan shows 10 4-story residential buildings, four retail pads and a handful of carriage houses. Amenities include two swimming pools, a fire pit, play field, playground, public plaza, two dog parks, dog wash, a shade structure with outdoor seating, walking trail and enhanced pedestrian corridor.

Conditions attached to the commercial mixed-use zoning include that two of the residential buildings must have at least 2,500 square feet of coworking space each; there must be EV parking spaces; at least 3,000 square feet for a dog park; and at least 10,000 square feet for outdoor active open space.

The Raleigh City Council recently approved a zoning request that will allow developer Atlas Stark to build a 20-story residential, mixed-use project. The assembled parcel will be situated along Computer Drive just inside the Beltline.

While the developer has not revealed the number of housing units the project will include, it will likely be over 1,000, with 10% set aside as affordable units.

The Triangle Business Journal reports other conditions include prohibiting certain uses, limiting office space to 500,000 square feet, and limiting retail space to 150,000 square feet.

The 17.89-acre property starting at 3808 Six Forks Road and Computer Drive was zoned for up to 3 stories and includes a State Employees’ Credit Union branch and office building. It’s not known yet if the credit union will participate in the venture.

Atlas Stark says it is a relationship-driven full-service commercial development, leasing, and management company with expertise in all aspects of asset and portfolio acquisition/repositioning; ground-up development; adaptive reuse; leasing and asset management.

Erickson Senior Living acquired a development site in the Agricultural Reserve west of Boynton Beach for $53.5 million. Erickson started the rezoning process for the property in 2022. It’s currently pending approval for 1,262 senior living/nursing home units in six buildings, ranging from three to four stories.

The William Mazzoni Revocable Trust sold 93.5 acres at 8344 Boynton Beach Blvd. to Erickson. The farmland is just west of Florida’s Turnpike.

Jim Knight of the Knight Group in Delray Beach and Curtis Olschansky of the Olschansky Group brokered the deal.

Erickson Senior Living is in the midst of a $4 billion national expansion announced in 2023. The company plans to build retirement communities across the nation to cater to retiring baby boomers looking to downsize. Its website says its in-house team oversees every phase of development—from land acquisition to planning and design through construction and beyond.

Tower Capital helped arrange a $19 million loan to refinance 99 townhomes developed in the first phase of Poplin Glen, a 268-unit BTR development in Charlotte. The loan replaced an original bridge loan Tower Capital arranged in July 2021 to acquire the townhomes at certificate of occupancy with the intention to lease all the units.

The sponsor, who has declined to be identified, will begin selling the individually platted homes in Phase 1 to homeowners individually as units become vacant. Redfin’s Jill Moyer has been brought on to handle the sales. The subsequent phases, including Phase 2 with 70 units and Phase 3 with 99 units, will remain rentals.

Tower Capital’s Kyle McDonough said, “Demand is increasing from buyers seeking to own a property and it made sense to adjust the plan to meet that homeownership market need.”

The initial phase of Poplin Glen, delivered in 2021 and 2022, consists of two-story, three-bedroom, 2.5-bath townhome units with one-car direct-access attached garages and backyards.

Canvas Residential is starting to release units for its 222-unit build-to-rent community in the Atlanta metro area. Center Park Group, the lead contractor, is finishing the buildout of The Rosemoor townhome community in McDonough, Georgia which kicked off in January of 2023. It’s the fourth time the two have combined efforts on BTR projects.

On 27 acres, The Rosemoor will feature two-story townhomes with one—and two-car garages. Residents will also have access to a playground, swimming pool, fitness center, and clubhouse.

Currently, 14 buildings are underway on site, with more scheduled for release this month.

Metro Atlanta trails only Phoenix and Dallas-Ft. Worth when it comes to build-to-rent homes constructed in 2023. The area saw 1,872 BTR residences that came onto the rental market. Phoenix had 3,806 and Dallas, 2,694, according to a report from the National Rental Home Council (NRHC) trade association.

Since Covid, mixed-use developers have been forced to reconsider their formula regarding how much office space is needed. The universal adoption of hybrid working during the pandemic has decreased the amount of space companies typically lease in office buildings. Much of the focus has to do with repurposing unoccupied space. 

Original entitlements for a fourth building at the State Farm campus in Dunwoody allowed KDC to build up to 729,600 square feet of office space and 33,586 square feet of retail. Instead, KDC has proposed 300,000 square feet of office, 300 residential units, a 175-key hotel and 22,000 square feet of retail space.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports some of KDC’s partners say that they want to rent out apartments to corporations with employees who come and go. The project will not have designated affordable housing units. The request is expected to be okayed by the Dunwoody City Council.

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