2023 NMHC Top 50 Owners

As an owner, operator, and developer, Northland is thriving with $8 billion in assets under management, over 26,000 apartments, and a $3 billion development pipeline. Under CEO Matthew Gottesdiener’s leadership, the firm completed 11 acquisitions, seven dispositions, and 17 refinances just last year. “Northland experienced meaningful, tremendous growth in 2022,” he shares.

The successful year of growth also included the firm’s entrance into California with the half-billion-dollar acquisition of THEA at Metropolis in Los Angeles—marking one of the largest single-asset market-rate multifamily acquisitions in U.S. history. The 59-story, 685-unit tower is Northland’s sixth high-rise in its portfolio.

While Northland has traditionally developed and operated in the New England and Sun Belt markets, the firm also expanded into the upper Midwest in 2022 with the acquisitions of the 318-unit Preserve West in Madison, Wisconsin, and SoRoc on Maine in Rochester, Minnesota.

The acquisition of the 186-unit SoRoc on Maine included plans for Northland’s in-house national development platform to expand the property’s in-place entitlements with a second phase. The expansion, which broke ground in late 2022, includes 194 units for a total of 380 units across five buildings on approximately 13 acres.

In Northland’s headquarter state of Massachusetts, a 40-year-in-the-making project is underway in Newton. Northland is converting an aging industrial complex into Newton Northland Development, a mixed-use project with 140 affordable housing units, 800 new housing units, and a Main Street among retail, office, and green space. The project, which is expected to be the largest passive house residential community in the U.S., will also be home to Northland’s new corporate headquarters.

Following a very busy 2022, Northland is focusing on operations and recruitment this year as it waits for the next opportunity. With 92% of Northland’s current portfolio acquired through fixed-rate debt, Gottesdiener feels confident in the firm’s strength against the tumultuous capital markets. “We’re able to be patient as we don’t have to buy deals to exist,” he says. “We’re entering a period where being a better operator is mattering even more. There’s a focus on retention.”

An aspect unique to Northland is its desire to be long-term owners of the properties it develops. “We build a product that we would like to own and operate for a long time to come,” Gottesdiener adds. Northland not only invests in the projects it develops, but the larger communities in which they are located.

Believing in stable and affordable rent increases, Northland cares about its residents and their livelihoods. The firm supports Boston-based HomeStart, a program that addresses homelessness through eviction prevention, helping individuals find permanent housing, and stabilization, while partnering with local nonprofits and landlords. Gottesdiener says, “We want to be a force for good in the markets we serve.”

Being a force for good also includes keeping and recruiting the best and brightest in multifamily talent. Gottesdiener is excited to see the 650-plus team across 16 states expand further as opportunities arise at the firm’s new second headquarters in Austin, Texas. Austin is home to Northland’s largest single-city portfolio of 16 communities.

The firm hired Jeff England as vice president of multifamily to oversee Northland’s operations across its Western portfolio in Texas, Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Wisconsin. “The new headquarters will allow close support of on-site execution of existing business and initiatives,” Gottesdiener says. “It also opens the door to the next generation of this platform and the talent behind it—especially as we grow data and analytics.”

Passionate about leading the company to further success, Gottesdiener says he believes in honoring hard work. “We don’t believe in waiting in line for a turn, we take hard work to heart and make it an obligation to offer opportunity and compensation when someone gives their all,” he shares. “Our people will determine the next chapter of our future.”