CHICAGO—CA Residential LLC, the multifamily investment and development division of CA Ventures, together with The Habitat Co., has just launched a programmatic partnership through which Habitat will assume management of a five-building, 1,215-unit apartment portfolio owned by CA. In addition, the Chicago-based firms will pursue co-development and investment opportunities in select markets throughout the US, targeting market-rate properties between $40 million and $120 million.

“Almost everything we do is through some form of partnership,” Matt Fiascone, president of Habitat, tells GlobeSt.com. “This has been the company's M.O. for the last 45 years.” So in at least one respect this partnership is nothing new. But it is the first time that Habitat has formed a collaboration that will stretch beyond one or two properties. Furthermore, through its student housing arm, CA has developed significant expertise in many markets, and Habitat will now have many opportunities to expand beyond its Chicago base, one of its top goals.

“You can't be a dynamic company in institutional grade real estate by staying focused on one metro area,” Fiascone adds. Habitat does develop and manage affordable housing and public housing, but much of its work revolves around market rate multifamily projects of more than 400 units, and “you can develop only so many 400-plus unit buildings in Chicago.”