Chicago-based Waterton has closed its Waterton Residential Property Venture XIV with $1.5 billion in equity commitments, making it one of the largest dedicated multifamily funds in the US. Waterton raised capital from a diverse group of global institutional investors, according to the company. Including debt, the fund has the capacity to purchase $4 billion in more than 50 multifamily properties.

Despite the market dislocation in the last year, Waterton remains bullish on the multifamily sector and plans to invest this capital through the disruption. "This fund represents a unique opportunity to invest in a strategy we've been executing for 25 years that evolves to capitalize on cycle-specific opportunities, which should be plentiful in the current market environment," says David Schwartz, chairman and CEO of Waterton, in a statement about the fund's closing.

Waterton launched the fund in May 2020—in the midst of the pandemic—and has already begun deploying capital. In its first purchase, the fund acquired a four-property, 1,824-unit portfolio in Atlanta. The transaction closed on November 5, 2020. In later transactions, the firm also acquired a two-property portfolio in Hawaii and three assets in California. In keeping with its recent strategy, Waterton will focus on workforce housing properties in major urban and suburban US markets with strong job growth, employment metrics and transportation logistics.