With growth in the medical, technology and defense industries as well as continued investment from local entertainment behemoths Disney and Universal, Orlando, Florida, is a market with significant employment tailwinds.
New York City-based apartment owner Ashcroft Capital sees these job trends as just one major attraction to Orlando.
“One of the major draws for us to continue to invest in the Orlando market is the population growth, which is one of the nation’s strongest,” Scott Lebenhart, chief investment officer at Ashcroft Capital, told Multifamily Dive. “Additionally, as new supply begins to trail off over the next 12 months, we expect trends such as vacancy and rent growth to continue to improve.”
Ashcroft Capital expanded its growing portfolio in Orlando earlier this week by acquiring Ascend Waterleigh Club, a brand-new Class A property in the suburb of Winter Garden, Florida, according to a news release. The acquisition was completed through a joint venture that includes Chicago-based real estate private equity firm Temerity Strategic Partners and Chicago-based investment firm Pearlmark.
Dallas-based builder DR Horton was the seller, according to a LinkedIn post from Kyle Butler, director of capital markets in the Orlando office of JLL Capital Markets, which facilitated the sale and financing of the property.
“This is part of the seller’s business plan — develop, lease up and then sell,” Lebenhart told Multifamily Dive. “There was no distress with the seller; however, they were motivated to sell in order to execute their business plan.”
Rebranding an acquisition
The property, which was rebranded as Birchstone Waterleigh, is Ashcroft Capital's second apartment asset in Winter Garden and its seventh in the metro Orlando area. It is located in the 22,000-acre Horizon West master-planned community.
Birchstone Residential, Ashcroft Capital’s in-house property management and construction management company, is now operating the 300-unit property, which was built in 2023.
“Given its proximity to Halston Waterleigh and our other communities in the Orlando area, Birchstone Waterleigh should further enable us to create economies of scale and operational efficiencies in central Florida,” Lebenhart said in the news release.
Birchstone Waterleigh features one-, two- and three-bedroom homes ranging from 782 to 1,563 square feet. Its amenities include a resort-style saltwater pool, a coworking lounge, a 24-hour fitness center, an enclosed dog park, 24-hour emergency maintenance service, a game lounge, outdoor barbecue grills and dining areas, parcel lockers with 24-hour access, an electric vehicle charging station and housekeeping services.
“Ultimately, we were attracted to Birchstone Waterleigh for multiple reasons,” Lebenhart said in the release. “In addition to its obvious caliber, the community sits in a submarket that will see limited competitive new multifamily supply in the future because of its location in Horizon West and the restrictions of the master-planned community.”
Ashcroft Capital, which has $2.9 billion of multifamily assets totaling just over 14,000 units, owns communities throughout Texas, Georgia and North Carolina. It is actively pursuing additional markets in the Sun Belt.
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