Morgan Properties and Olayan America have purchased a portfolio of 48 U.S. multifamily properties for $1.75 billion.
The seller was STAR Real Estate Ventures, a joint venture of El-Ad National Properties LLC and Yellowstone Portfolio Trust, according to a press release from Morgan and Olayan. It is Morgan’s largest acquisition since the Pennsylvania-based firm bought 95 multifamily properties for $1.9 billion two years ago.
The 48 properties have 14,414 units, including 2,566 outside Baltimore and 1,972 in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area.
The portfolio spans 11 states, including six where Morgan already owns multifamily properties: North Carolina, South Carolina, Illinois, Ohio and Maryland. The portfolio deal marks Morgan’s first acquisitions in Florida, Texas, Georgia, Louisiana and Michigan.
Morgan and Olayan plan to spend about $100 million on renovations and upgrades to the properties, the average age of which is 35 years.
Morgan Properties plans to open a regional office in Boca Raton, Florida, to help manage the portfolio. The acquisition also saw Morgan bring on 400 employees and create around 70 new corporate positions.
STAR Real Estate Ventures joins other multifamily landlords in offloading holdings recently. Radco has sold more than half of the 59 multifamily properties it has purchased over the last decade in order to build up some cash for what CEO Norman Radrow last fall called “a new and interesting cycle that will be coming next year.”