In Dave Woodward’s career, he’s worked for Archstone, a REIT; he ran Laramar Group, an entrepreneurial, private owner; and he steered CompassRock, a third-party manager. Now, he gets to head the apartment group for one of the most active acquirers of apartments over the past couple of years—Brookfield Property Partners.
Last month, New York City–based Brookfield announced that Woodward, a former MFE Executive of the Year, has been hired to oversee the firm’s apartment business and strategy.
“We are very pleased to have someone of Dave’s caliber and reputation in the industry join the Brookfield team,” said Ric Clark, CEO of Brookfield Property Group, in a press release. “Bringing Dave in to lead this effort on our multifamily platform is an important next step as we expand our footprint.”
Brookfield has interests in 28,000 multifamily units, including a majority interest in Fairfield Residential, a San Diego–based owner, developer, and property manager of apartment properties nationally. The firm also has a number of deals in the works, including the privatization of Cleveland-based REIT Associated Estates.
“The Brookfield opportunity was a great one,” Woodward says. “They’ve acquired a whole lot of multifamily in the last five years.”
Brookfield also controls development sites in major U.S. markets, including New York City; Washington, D.C.; and Los Angeles, and has been eyeing international expansion. It already owns the large Canary Wharf development in London, which will include residential, according to Woodward.
“I’ll run [Brookfield’s] multifamily platform globally,” he says. “It’s everything from strategy to investments to development deals.”
In the past few years, Brookfield acquired the Putnam Apartment portfolio (3,962 units) and part of the Bell/DRA Advisors portfolio (4,275 units), and Woodward expects there will be more deals on the way.
“We’re looking at all kinds of interesting things,” Woodward says. “We’re going to be active.”