Berkadia announces it has arranged a $25 million preferred equity facility for a REIT focused on the Build-to-Rent (BTR) space in Texas. Berkadia JV Equity & Structured Capital, led by Chinmay Bhatt, Noam Franklin and Cody Kirkpatrick, secured the capital provider.

 The preferred equity line will be used to help recapitalize the REIT’s current scattered-site projects and will be used for the development of future purpose-built BTR opportunities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

 “We have seen an enormous amount of capital rushing into the Build-to-Rent space and our goal was to identify the right capital partner for our client as they plan to grow quickly, and sought a group that would be flexible and creative with their structure,” said Kirkpatrick. “This investment is the first of a larger program that will ensure our client has the capital it needs now and down the road. The BTR space is so competitive that capital providers need to offer something unique in exchange for the opportunity to invest with best-in-class sponsors in the space,” added Franklin.

 The BTR space has continued to gain popularity in recent years as home prices have risen to their highest levels since April 2006. In 2020, occupancy rates reached a 20-year high, with nearly 95 percent occupancy across the U.S. and in Q2 of that year, over a third of the total rental housing stock consisted of BTR homes.