Kennedy Wilson Launches $1.5B Multifamily Platform
The new investment platform will focus on core-plus multifamily opportunities in the Western US.
Kennedy Wilson has partnered with a global institutional investor to acquire and manage core-plus multifamily communities in the Western US.
The new platform already includes an $800 million portfolio, including nine multifamily properties in the western US. Kennedy Wilson sold a 49% interest in these wholly owned assets to its partner and it will have a 51% ownership stake in the new joint venture. The joint venture will target $700 million in additional core-plus acquisition opportunities.
By creating the new platform and selling the nine properties, Kennedy Wilson realized $254 million in proceeds. That includes $92 million of proceeds from refinancing certain assets within the seed portfolio before the sale. Kennedy Wilson says these proceeds are expected to be reinvested into new wholly owned acquisitions.
With the platform’s launch and recent acquisitions, Kennedy Wilson has added nearly 2,000 units since year-end 2020. At press time, it owns almost 32,000. As it redeploys the proceeds from the seed portfolio sale, it expects further growth.
Other firms are also announcing more multifamily activity in the western US. Earlier this month, Arixa Capital affiliate Arixa Holdings and Belay Investment Group formed a joint venture to provide $1 million to $10 million in bridge, renovation and construction loans for multifamily and homebuilding developments, targeting local real estate investors and developers.
For Arixa, the joint venture will strengthen the company’s Western US platform. Specifically, the two firms are focused on addressing the housing affordability gap in Los Angeles and other major West Coast markets. For that reason, the joint venture will mandate that borrowers meet attainability guidelines for housing. Those guidelines are determined by median home prices and rental rates. Ultimately, the joint venture’s goal is to increase the supply of for-sale single-family and apartment units.
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In a separate deal that also shows the strength of multifamily, Ivanhoé Cambridge and Mount Auburn Multifamily formed a programmatic joint venture to invest in preferred equity for ground-up multifamily developments throughout the US.
The venture is aimed at developers to complete their capital structures and bring more housing to many markets, including Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Columbus, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Louisville, Nashville, Orlando, Phoenix, Raleigh, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, Tampa, and Washington, DC suburbs.