AUSTIN, TX—Austin-based Rastegar Property Company's 2019 acquisition activity reflects record expansion. Last year, Rastegar acquired 16 properties in Dallas, Austin, Kyle, TX and Phoenix. The firm expanded its portfolio with investments in multifamily, retail, office, parking and land, and added additional acreage to its current development projects.
A downtown Dallas lot to be used for the development of a 270-unit high-rise occupied by next-gen hospitality company Sonder on a long-term lease agreement.
A 48-unit 36,740-square-foot multifamily residential complex in the Austin neighborhood of Hyde Park, and a 50-unit 29,867-square-foot multifamily residential complex in the North Central Austin neighborhood of St. Johns.
A lot on Austin's South Congress Avenue with a total buildable potential of more than 110,000 square feet. And, a 1.77-acre 77,101-square-foot South First Street lot was purchased in Austin's rapidly developing and artistic "Slackerville" neighborhood that Rastegar Property Company used along with several other lots to assemble a larger property for development.
Rastegar Property Company's activity level is a result of its focus on investing in cities that attract skilled young professionals and high-paying jobs. According to 2019 US Census data, Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Frisco and McKinney were among the 15 fastest growing cities.
"As young professionals continued their mass exodus from America's most expensive real estate markets and areas demanding a significant cost of living, the increased employment opportunities coupled with the absence of state income tax played major roles in making our home state of Texas, and more specifically our backyard of Austin, the epicenter of this migration," said Ari Rastegar, CEO of Rastegar Property Company. "We expect Austin and the greater Southwest to continue attracting young and talented professionals pursuing jobs with leading tech companies like Facebook and Apple, among others. This population growth is a boon to the local economies, creating value for our investors and the communities in which we invest by identifying properties that can help meet this rapidly growing demand for housing, retail, office and storage needs."
Inspired by Pablo Picasso's "everything you can imagine is real" philosophy, Rastegar Property Company acquired each of these properties after reimagining the assets' potential. Each property also met one or more of the company's formal investment criteria, with opportunities to create value through repositioning, redevelopment or improved asset management and operational efficiency. Additionally, these properties are located near employment opportunities, higher education institutions, residential areas, restaurants, entertainment, healthcare facilities and major transit corridors, also increasing Rastegar Property Company's holdings in acreage, square feet and buildable square feet.
"The main characteristic we look for in redevelopment opportunities is the location, namely in multifamily because that's what our core focus is," Rastegar tells GlobeSt.com. "We typically look for vintage, class-B or class-C multifamily. Once we have well-located multifamily properties, especially near major new developments, we're then able to go in and put class-A finish-outs to compete with the new construction and class-A product across the street. By buying older multifamily properties at a discount to replacement costs, we're then able to offer competitive rates that are lower than the new ground-up development across the street, and still generate a healthy profit. It always revolves around the location and the ability to bring higher-end amenities to a community that already needs class A at a better price."
Rastegar Property Company is a real estate investment firm focused on value-add and development in all asset classes throughout Austin and the greater IH-35 corridor.
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