Greystar is a leading, fully integrated real estate company offering expertise in investment management, development, and construction services in institutional-quality rental housing, logistics, and life sciences sectors. Headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, Greystar manages and operates more than $280 billion¹ of real estate in 241¹ markets globally with offices throughout North America, Europe, South America and the Asia-Pacific region. Greystar is the largest operator of apartments in the United States, manages more than 822,000¹ units/beds globally, and has a robust institutional investment management platform comprised of more than $75 billion¹ of assets under management, including nearly $32 billion of assets under development. Greystar was founded by Bob Faith in 1993 to become a provider of world-class service in the rental residential real estate business. To learn more, visit www.greystar.com.
¹ Key Metrics is as of end of 2Q23.
Sector forecasts
Industrial
Interest in Logistics is largely driven by excess demand for warehouse space in and around major metropolitan areas where Greystar already has a significant presence. Greystar’s study of Logistics demand since 2000 reveals two inflection points that have indelibly altered the market for warehouse space. The first was in the early 2010s with the increasing adoption of e-commerce; the second began in 2020 with the outbreak of COVID-19 and consequent disruption to global supply chains. Today’s Logistics opportunity benefits from three secular tailwinds which complement broader economic growth: increasing e-commerce adoption, more defensive inventory management, and a supply-chain re-configuration around strengthened resilience. Aided by these powerful and diverse demand drivers, Greystar believes that Logistics real estate absorption will remain healthy, keeping vacancies low despite elevated new supply. However, new supply is already in retreat, as two years of elevated construction activity is coming to an end. New construction is restrained by rising costs of land, materials, labor, and tighter financing as well as stretched construction timelines.
Greystar believes there are two unmet needs in the Logistics space today that offer compelling value to investors: 1) ground-up development to serve increasing demand for space and 2) attractive long-term cash flow stability from well-constructed portfolios anchored to growing metros. The present supply-demand conditions present a window for seasoned developers to take on new warehouse projects with confidence in a successful delivery and stabilization. Given Greystar’s positioning as a well-capitalized developer and global investment manager, we believe it is a natural fit for the opportunity.
Residential
Amidst broader inflationary pressures in the macro environment, Greystar observes real estate is a favored asset class. Greystar believes rental housing is well-positioned to capture inflation, as apartment leases mark to market annually and provide owners the opportunity to take the first bite at capturing growth. Similar to historical periods, interest rates have been more volatile than cap rates. Greystar maintains conviction in the top-line growth potential for the sector, shielding residential assets from any major rerating in pricing. While financing costs and interest rate volatility may thin highly levered buyer pools, Greystar expects healthy fundamentals and elevated capital appetite for the sector should buoy valuations.
Overall, while the broader market growth outlook has moderated, Greystar predicts investor appetite for residential exposure will likely remain strong over the long-term, as the rental housing sector continues to offer solid fundamentals and relative inflation protection with shorter duration leases. Finally, Greystar believes the rental housing sector presents as a relatively affordable value proposition versus homeownership amidst supply limitations and increasing costs. While fundamentals remain strong, higher interest rates may rattle asset values in the short run. Yet, rental housing should fare better than alternative sectors given robust top-line growth potential in the short-term. Levered buyer pools may have thinned, but competitive and liquid broader capital appetite should mitigate volatility as deals continue to transact.
Other
The life science industry experienced tremendous growth over the last five years, fueled by new innovations and increasing capital appetite. Public and private funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), private equity, and venture capital help in the development of and testing for new treatments. Greystar anticipates investor appetite for life science exposure will likely remain strong over the long-term, as the sector continues to offer solid fundamentals including healthy employment growth and relative work-from-home resiliency versus office product. The pandemic highlighted the long-term demand for innovation in medical research and pharmaceutical production. Greystar expects a disciplined investment strategy focused on purpose-built, Class A lab space in globally renowned clusters will provide the most attractive opportunity for outsized risk-adjusted returns.
Investment principles & strategy
With over 30 years of experience investing in residential rental housing, Greystar has developed a successful investment approach focused on identifying and executing opportunities that seek to drive value at the property-level. Greystar believes that proven purpose-built rental design and operational excellence lead to a premium over market rents, often above-inflation growth, while offering security of income and a lower volatility outcome. Greystar continually seeks to deploy capital in markets with strong fundamentals while executing the investment strategies it has agreed upon with its capital partners. These strategies benefit from the company’s extensive information networks and relationships, including property management clients, lenders, developers and institutions to identify investment opportunities. Greystar’s vertically integrated, global platform is well-suited to source off-market opportunities and quickly analyze, underwrite and execute on single-asset acquisitions and developments, as well as large portfolios.
Greystar believes that compelling opportunities typically include characteristics that fit within the following profile: (i) assets in attractive locations within high-barrier-to-entry submarkets in a strategy’s target markets that are poised for outperformance due to strong residential fundamentals; (ii) assets that exhibit potential for operational improvements leveraging Greystar’s property management expertise and scale; and (iii) assets that display upside potential through executing Greystar’s historically proven capital renovation program.
Strategic corporate development
By methodically growing the company over the last 30+ years, Greystar has become the largest operator of apartments in the United States and expects to continue delivering industry leading service to the capital partners, clients and residents it serves. Greystar intends to remain a private company, allowing it the maximum flexibility necessary to achieve its business plans and navigate markets to capitalize on attractive opportunities. While the company’s operating platform has achieved scale in the US, the company will seek to grow organically and through strategic acquisitions. Greystar’s investment management and development businesses are expected to grow as investors increasingly allocate capital to specialist operators in an effort to mitigate intermediary fees and take advantage of operators’ deep local market expertise. Greystar will continue to offer opportunities across the risk return spectrum with investment strategies tailored to the needs of its partners and clients.
COMPLIANCE STATEMENT
The information contained in this document is provided as of the date below, unless noted. This document does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. Any such offer/solicitation can only be made by the applicable offering documents furnished to qualified investors in jurisdictions where permitted by law. Any opinions, forecasts, projections or other statements, other than statements of historical fact, that are made in this document are forward-looking statements. Greystar gives no express or implied representation or warranty, and no responsibility is accepted with respect to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of any information set out in this document, and nothing contained herein shall be relied upon as a promise regarding any future performance.