CPE’s 2018 Multifamily Property Executive of the Year

FIRST PLACE:

Bob Faith
Chairman & CEO, Greystar

Bob Faith

Serial Entrepreneur: Prior to founding Greystar in 1993, Faith co-founded Starwood Capital Partners LP, a private investment company, in 1991. He also co-founded Homegate Hospitality Inc., an operator of extended-stay hotels, in February 1996, serving as CEO before selling it to Prime Hospitality Corp. in December 1997. Faith began his real estate career with the Trammell Crow Co. during the 1980s. He also served as the South Carolina Secretary of Commerce from December 2002 until February 2006.

Eight Years Running: Greystar retained its position as the National Multifamily Housing Council’s largest multifamily operator in the U.S. for the eighth consecutive year and exhibited additional growth in units under management through 2018.

Student Housing Powerhouse: In September 2018, Greystar completed the $4.6 billion acquisition of student housing giant EdR, one of America’s largest owners, developers and managers of collegiate housing with 86 owned or managed communities with more than 47,100 beds, serving 55 universities in 27 states. In conjunction with this transaction, a joint venture between an affiliate of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust and an affiliate of Greystar acquired a portfolio of 20 EdR communities for $1.2 billion.

With the acquisition of EdR, Greystar’s student housing portfolio now comprises more than 90,000 beds globally, including approximately 74,000 beds under management and more than $1 billion under development. In Europe, Greystar expanded with the launch of a vertically integrated platform in France to acquire and develop purpose-built student accommodations and rental housing. In addition, Greystar, PSP Investments and Allianz announced the formation of a £1.5B ($1.97 billion) joint venture partnership to grow Chapter, London’s leading student accommodation brand, targeting 10,000 student beds and doubling the size of the portfolio within five years.

Multifamily Pipeline: Greystar has $10.4 billion in developments completed or underway globally, including 50 projects valued at some $8 billion in the current development pipeline.

Savvy Strategy: “For student housing, we have been interested in the space for some time, and we are actually a large investor in the niche internationally. However, domestically, we thought our focus in recent years should be primarily on multifamily, while the demographics in student housing were less supportive given a contracting college-age population. With a relatively more attractive outlook starting to filter in from a demographics perspective and continued tailwinds related to the importance of higher education still underway, we think being more active is appropriate.” — Sibley Fleming

HONORABLE MENTION:

Debra Cafaro
Chairman & CEO, Ventas Inc.

Debra Cafaro

Top CEO: Cafaro is credited with raising Ventas Inc.’s market cap from $200 million in 1999 to $26 billion at its peak. She became chair of the Real Estate Roundtable for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2018. In October, she was one of three women named to the Harvard Business Review’s Top 100 Best Performing CEOs—her fifth consecutive year on the list. Prior to Ventas, she was president and a director of Ambassador Apartments Inc. Before real estate, she had a career in law.

Healthy Growth: Ventas Inc. is an S&P 500 company and REIT that owns more than 1,200 healthcare, life science and senior living properties in North America and the United Kingdom and is a leading capital provider for major care providers and research institutions. The company’s compound annual total shareholder return has exceeded 22 percent since Jan. 1, 2000. Accomplishments in 2018 included investing $400 million in university-based development and acquisitions with Wexford Science + Technology, extending leases with Brookdale Senior Living out to 2026, recapitalizing Atria Senior Living, establishing a senior housing relationship with newly formed Eclipse Senior Living, and acquiring a senior housing community in the Battery Park City area of downtown Manhattan. — Therese Fitzgerald

Daryl Carter
Chairman & CEO, Avanath Capital Management

Daryl Carter

Workforce Champion: Carter founded Avanath Capital Management LLC, a California-based multifamily investor, in 2008. Previously, he was an executive managing director with Centerline Capital Group., which purchased Capri Capital Finance in 2005. He co-founded and served as co-chairman of the Capri Capital family of companies. Prior to Capri, Carter was regional vice president at Westinghouse Credit Corp. and a second vice president at Continental Bank.

The Properties: Specializing in buying, adding value to and operating affordable and workforce housing, Avanath is an SEC-registered investment advisor and an institutional fund manager. The company has acquired $1.5 billion in properties (comprising 8,000 apartment units) in 12 U.S. states since 2009. In January of this year, the company announced the closing of both Avanath Affordable Housing III fund and the Avanath III NY Co-Investment fund. The funds represent $388 million in equity commitments from 19 investors, including three pension funds, three foundations, four U.S. companies, four U.S. banks, four U.S. family offices and one European family office. Acquisitions for the third round of funds include affordable communities in Chicago, Prince George County, Md., and Morris County, N.J. — Therese Fitzgerald