Earlier this year, MC Companies launched Operation 25K—an initiative to grow the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based firm from 6,500 apartment units to 25,000 apartment units under ownership by 2029.

Operation 25K requires MC Companies to successfully purchase 1,000 units in 2021 and more than 2,500 units annually thereafter. It will also involve the construction of 1,100 new units as part of the firm’s development pipeline and will nearly double the MC Companies team to more than 400 employees over the next two to three years. Last month, the firm hired David Mannion as its chief operating officer to lead its growth initiative.

In this Q&A, the company's founders, Ross McCallister and Ken McElroy, discuss their investment strategy and how they attract new investors.

Demand from Asian buyers is keeping Reven Capital hopping these days. The firm is the new U.S. acquisition and operations partner for Tokyo-based GI Capital Management Ltd. Reven Capital has set an ambitious goal of buying about $2 billion in core assets by the end of 2022. The interesting story is the tremendous appetite from pension funds, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds in Asia that are looking for cash-flow yield, says Chad Carpenter, chairman and CEO or Reven Capital. “They are looking for yield plays. Anything on the back-end is gravy, but the main investment criteria is really the average cash-on-cash return over the hold period,” he says.

Here, we talk with Carpenter about his strategy to acquire core real estate assets on behalf of his foreign clients.

As the world adapts to changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the commercial real estate market is evolving to capitalize on these more recent trends. After spending the past few years focusing on the “last mile,” for example, investors in logistics assets are now pursuing the “next mile”—properties such as refrigerated grocery pick-up stations and future landing pads for driverless cars. Among those trying to be on the front lines of this strategy is C.J. Follini, family office principal and investment fund manager with Noyack Capital Partners (NCP), who is on a mission to future-proof his firm’s alternative real estate investments.

Read our interview with Follini about the recent trends shaping the logistics real estate sector, including self-driving cars and crypto currency, the emerging mobility hub asset class, and NCP’s market analytics methodology for identifying new opportunities in its real estate investment strategy.

Earlier this year, Timberland Partners launched its eighth multi-asset real estate fund. The fund, with a target size of $50 million, is aimed at investing in existing multifamily assets in smaller markets that have not been widely explored by larger institutional investors. Most recently, the fund acquired Oak Ridge at Pelham, a 252-unit apartment community in Greenville, S.C. The deal, on a class-B community, not only represents the company’s entrance into the state, but also highlights its focus on secondary and tertiary markets in the Southeast.

We talk to Timberland Founder and President Bob Fransen about the firm's strategy here. 

In late 2020, Avanath Capital Management closed its fourth affordable housing fund, raising $760 million from a variety of investors. The firm raised at least half the capital during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and is actively deploying it in high-cost markets. Most recently, it acquired Acton Courtyard, a 71-unit fully affordable community in Berkeley, Calif., from Equity Residential for approximately $25.3 million. WMRE spoke with John R. Williams about the firm’s strategy, equity-raising efforts and return expectations. Read our interview with him here.

Since June 2020, S2 Capital has acquired nearly 14,000 units totaling more than $2.5 billion. And during the same period, the firm has taken advantage of the red-hot demand for workforce housing and emerged as an active seller as well—disposing of more than 30 apartment communities totaling close to $2.5 billion.

Earlier this month, S2 closed on the acquisition of four multifamily properties totaling 1,893 units in Texas. The deal expanded the firm’s footprint in the Lone Star State to 16,000 units and established it as the most active buyer in the state over the past 24 months.

WMRE recently spoke with Everett about the firm’s investment philosophy, its equity-raising efforts and its plans for 2022. Here is our Q&A.

Cottonwood Group recently launched an open-ended, multi-strategy real estate investment vehicle called the Cottonwood Founders Portfolio Fund. The Los Angeles-based firm, which also has offices in Boston and New York, named the fund after its strong base of anchor legacy investors.

WMRE spoke with Tinchuck Ng, managing director and head of investments with Cottonwood Management LLC, about the new fund, how Cottonwood raises money and its relationship with its investors. Read the transcript of our conversation here.

Martin Muoto, founder and CEO of the Los Angeles-based SoLa Impact socially driven real estate funds, talks a lot about “leveling the playing field.” In Muoto’s universe, that field is populated by residents of Black and brown communities across the country.

As part of Muoto’s ongoing campaign to level the playing field, he recently launched the $1 billion minority-led Black Impact Fund, which will invest solely in affordable housing for Black and brown communities in major urban areas. Actually, the fund comprises two funds: a $500 million Opportunity Zone fund and a $500 million non-Opportunity Zone fund.

Read our interview with Muoto here.

Earlier this year, Blackfin Real Estate Investors acquired Mosaic at Largo Station in metro Washington, D.C. in partnership with Clarion Partners Real Estate Income Fund Inc. The acquisition of the four-story, 242-unit apartment community is a perfect example of the types of deals that Blackfin has pursued since industry veterans Andrew Buchanan and Doug Root launched the firm five years ago.

Here is WMRE's conversation with Buchanan and Root.

Carter Multifamily, a private multifamily investor based in Tampa, Fla., is the latest example of a firm getting creative in how it is raising equity and attempting to tap into interest from investors looking to make smaller placements.

To that end, Carter is now part of the Alternative Investment Exchange, a platform seeking to facilitate buying, owning and selling alternative investments, including income-producing real estate.

Here is our coverage of the firm's strategy.

Henley Investments, a London-based private equity real estate firm, sold five apartment properties in the first half of 2021 for a combined $225 million. The exit from those properties, which included three buildings in La Vegas, one in North Carolina and one in California, came years ahead of schedule and at higher prices then the firm had projected when originally acquiring the assets.

Garrett Solomon, the firm's chief investment officer, sat down with WMRE to discuss the recent spurt of activity and what the firm’s strategy in the U.S. will be going forward. Access our conversation with him here.