Last week, Greystar, the largest apartment operator in the country, announced the signing of a letter of intent with Macquarie Capital to jointly form and capitalize a new Asia-Pacific rental housing platform called Greystar Asia-Pac.
The move expands Greystar’s international footprint into markets that will include Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai, Sydney, and Melbourne.
Shortly after the announcement, Multifamily Executive touched base with Greystar founder and CEO Bob Faith on his company’s position and the Asia-Pacific rental market.
How long was this in the works? What was the timetable?
We have a long history with Macquarie and have discussed with them for years the opportunities in Asia, but we only started talking about this venture in earnest about six months ago.
How much capital are you looking to raise?
We’ll raise capital appropriately sized to the opportunities we see. We plan to use our own capital and Macquarie’s capital to get some deals under way and [a] pipeline in place and decide how to go from there.
What are your short-term and long-term goals in the region?
Our long-term goal is to become the premier fully integrated rental residential investment manager in the region. We’re confident there is an enormous market for professionally operated and institutionally owned multifamily in the region and we plan to be a major player in the space.
Do China’s current economic troubles worry you at all?
We have a very long-term perspective when we enter new markets. We’re not an opportunistic player who comes into a market and then dashes out again. We remain very interested in China due to the tremendous growth in that economy as well as the ongoing urbanization dynamic. The Chinese government realizes it needs to encourage density, and it needs to encourage investment in rental housing to support and promote continued growth. We have a unique skill set and knowledge base to help.
Prior to this deal, what was Greystar’s presence in this region?
Our current presence had been simply working with investors in the region to invest elsewhere in our platform. This venture will be focused on owning and operating real estate in the region.
How would you assess the major markets in the Asia-Pacific region compared with the major markets in the U.S.? What’s different from an apartment operator’s point of view?
Each market has a very dynamic and specific set of operating and investment challenges. Like we do in every other market we serve around the globe, we will assess those challenges bringing our global knowledge, expertise, and support and combining it with the resources provided by our local team of professionals in each market to identify and create opportunities.
How has/will Greystar get up to speed on these markets in order to compete with local companies?
We often partner with local companies that have tremendous knowledge and experience in specific skill sets and have found that [to be] a very valuable way to get up to speed on local markets while building our team’s own local expertise and knowledge. We also hire local leaders who are supported and coached by existing Greystar team members. We ultimately are only successful if we’re as local as any local company yet have the advantages and support of our global operation.
