ATLANTA, GA - ECI Group and ApexOne Investment Partners announced the formation of a strategic joint venture to form ApexOne-ECI Multifamily Fund VI, LP, to acquire, invest in, strategically redevelop and renovate, lease, and manage institutional-quality multifamily assets across the Sunbelt, Midwest, and Mountain West regions of the United States. The Fund will seek total equity capitalization of $500 million.
ECI and ApexOne will serve as the Fund's co-general partners and have committed to co-invest, as called, more than $100 million of the Fund's $500 million total equity capitalization alongside committed investor equity capital. ECI Group's capital commitment to the Fund is in partnership with Almanac Realty Investors, a business unit of Neuberger Berman, which has committed up to $350 million to support ECI's continued platform expansion, including its investment in the Fund. The Fund intends to execute a diversified growth-and-income investment strategy through disciplined capital allocation, focusing on existing multifamily assets rather than ground-up developments, with an emphasis on both newer-vintage and traditional multifamily assets, including workforce housing communities, all with investment value-add opportunities. This investment strategy is designed to generate current cash flow while seeking market appreciation.
"Partnering with ECI brings together a fully integrated operating platform with a proven ability to drive performance at the property level, alongside a shared strength in identifying and executing on investment opportunities," said Ernest Johnson, Partner and Executive Managing Director of ApexOne. "Their innovative, AI-enabled approach to leasing, resident engagement, and asset management, combined with a long track record across market cycles and a meaningful capital commitment alongside investors, made them an ideal partner for this fund. We share a strong conviction that this is an attractive point in the real estate cycle to invest in, with compelling opportunities emerging across high-quality assets. In this environment, we believe ECI is exceptionally well positioned to execute at the property level and capitalize on the opportunities ahead."
"Forming this strategic partnership with ApexOne, an established multifamily fund manager, provides ECI with an opportunity to flex its operational excellence and efficiencies in multifamily investments in targeted high-growth markets while strengthening our institutional investor access and platform," said ECI Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer, Seth Greenberg. "Our Fund investment strategy focuses on our shared belief in, and experience with, compelling investment opportunities driven by disruption in the multifamily sector. These conditions include distressed sale conditions, near-term supply and demand imbalances, and affordability factors in single-family home ownership for many single- and double-income families. We also expect to capitalize on undercapitalized and under-managed conditions at many target assets, bringing ECI's exceptional track record in multifamily operations to bear to improve occupancy, elevate resident satisfaction, and increase marketing efficiencies."
Collectively, ECI and ApexOne have acquired or developed approximately 50,000 units and invested over $7 billion across more than 160 multifamily communities throughout the Sunbelt, Southwest, and Midwest regions. The co-general partners have operated and invested in over 130 submarkets through acquisitions, development, or structured debt. The senior executives of the co-general partners collectively have over 300 years of experience in multifamily real estate, including property acquisition, finance, investment, development and redevelopment, leasing, and property and asset management.