Miami's Related Group and Boston-based investment firm Rockpoint Group have set their sights on value-add.
The companies announced a new, $2 billion division this week that will focus on acquiring value-add multifamily properties in Florida and throughout the Sun Belt over the next few years.
"There's been so much concentration lately on new development, and so we only recently looked into the value-add business and the idea of actively pursuing acquisitions for rehabilitation in a programmatic, systematic way instead of doing them as one-off projects," says Related veteran Michael Hammon, who is returning to the company to head up the venture along with Matt Allen, COO at Related.
"We'll be using many of the other disciplines we already have at the company, like the construction and development departments, for example, so we can really utilize a lot of our expertise and the resources we already have in-house," adds Hammon. "Every division will complement the others."
Hammon says the driving force behind the venture is expansion into new markets. The division will primarily focus its efforts in Related's home state of Florida but will also look at opportunities in Atlanta and Dallas, where the company has opened new offices, along with Phoenix, Las Vegas, and other high-growth areas of the Sun Belt.
"These areas make the most sense to us for expansion as we develop critical mass in the marketplace, specifically for their job growth and vacancy levels" says Hammon. "We feel very bullish on U.S. real estate, especially in the multifamily sector, and particularly in the Sun Belt, so that's where we want to be."
