LOS ANGELES—While everyone within earshot is talking about millennials migrating out of the suburbs and into core urban markets, Gary Steinhardt, senior director in the investment group at American Realty Advisors, says that there are still plenty of multifamily opportunities in suburban markets. Steinhardt is speaking on the Shift of Capital: Identifying Opportunities in Alternative Markets panel at the upcoming RealShare Los Angeles conference on March 19, along with Jilliene Helman, founder and CEO of Realty Mogul; Paul Rahimian, owner of Parkview Financial; and Noah Streit, president of Streit Lending.

“All the pundits have been telling us for years that the suburbs are dead—that millennials only want to live in tiny-units in urban, walkable, amenity-rich areas,” Steinhardt tells GlobeSt.com. “We have taken a slightly contrarian view and continued to believe that thoughtfully renovated larger units in suburban locations can perform extremely well over the longer-term. We have recently invested in growing areas such as Playa Vista but we have also acquired more style suburban that can provide a little more yield since they have been out of favor. Ultimately, it's about capital flows—when mountains of capital are following the predictions of the major research organizations, it's wise to diverge from the crowd and look where others are not.”

When looking for an emerging market, Steinhardt says that investors should look for what he calls “dislocations,” or places near popular markets undergoing gentrification, like infill industrial locations near the arts district in Downtown Los Angeles, or follow the jobs to markets like Playa Vista that are benefiting from office users displaced or out-priced of other Westside markets. He also notes that you can create opportunities in markets that will be served by transit in the future.

On the panel, Steinhardt plans to explore the traditional and new sources of capital widely available in the market today. “I am excited to discuss the intersection of these new and traditional funding sources with an emphasis on how we fulfill our fiduciary responsibility as advisors,” he says. “In particular, I will question how new funding sources are preparing for a down cycle, as some of these vehicles have not been tested in challenging market. Many of the TIC syndicators simply did not have the resources or expertise to appropriately represent their investors in the last down cycle.”

The RealShare L.A. conference also includes panels on the capital stack, redevelopment and so much more. To find out more, join us March 19 at the Hyatt Century Plaza in Century City.