Waterton, a national real estate investor and operator, announced it will expand its strategy by investing in single-family rental (SFR) homes across Southeastern and Southwestern U.S. markets.
The firm will partner with Second Avenue Group, an established operator with an asset management platform, to strategically deploy capital into single-family rental assets through acquisitions and development.
“We have spent the majority of the past 25 years building a portfolio of multifamily assets by identifying needs and maximizing efficiencies in the value-add space,” says David Schwartz, CEO and chairman at Waterton. “As demand continues to outstrip supply of rental housing in certain markets, we identified an emerging need for single-family rental housing that suits the preferences of a shifting demographic and a need for responsible stakeholders to fill a void left by absentee landlords.”
Waterton’s partnership with Second Avenue’s platform brings to market a unified, end-to-end asset management platform which aggregates and enhances all aspects of SFR investment and operations including sourcing, marketing, acquisitions, rehab, and property management.
“As the SFR sector evolves, technology-based acquisition and management systems are a key piece of the puzzle,” says Fred Tuomi, former president, CEO, and director of Invitation Homes and now serving as a special adviser to Second Avenue. “Second Avenue provides just that—with a single tool to invest, analyze, and streamline asset management—while Waterton brings multiple decades of experience as a real estate investment manager and fiduciary.”
Waterton and Second Avenue will acquire existing homes as well as develop individual homes and build-to-rent communities in targeted U.S. cities to take advantage of the opportunities created by an increase in renter households and a shortage of housing units.
“Rental housing needs to serve the evolving demands of a changing demographic with wide-ranging profiles,” adds Schwartz. “Housing is a need-based product, and, while traditional multifamily rentals meet many of those needs, single-family rentals are an important part of the equation for the next generation of renters.”