JACKSONVILLE, FL—Marking its entry into the Florida commercial real estate market, Cortland Partners has acquired a $154 million multifamily portfolio that includes assets in Jacksonville. The 1,435-unit portfolio, which also includes properties in Dallas and Houston, increases Cortland’s multifamily real estate portfolio 20 percent.

"Cortland has selected specific markets for investment based on a research-driven assessment of market correlations to the national economy regarding job growth as well as a market-to-market correlation," Cortland Partners CEO Steven DeFrancis tells GlobeSt.com. "Our goal was to identify markets that are highly correlated with the national economy yet more resilient while also providing diversification from a cyclical perspective. We do not want all of our markets going up at the same time because they will all cycle down together."

DeFrancis explains that Houston, Dallas and Jacksonville a part of this mosaic when combined with Cortland's existing Atlanta and Charlotte presence. As he ses it, it's also important for Cortland to achieve economies of scale with a meaningful market presence. The additions in Texas allow the firm to achieve these economies of scale by tripling its portfolio concentration.