Dive Brief:

• MAA reclaimed the top spot on the National Multifamily Housing Council’s list of the Top 50 apartment owners, released Monday. Despite moving back up, the Memphis-based REIT saw its owned units drop by more than 300 units to 99,676 at the end of 2022.
• Greystar, long the biggest manager in the space, jumped to the No. 2 spot with 98,860 units after adding more than 18,000 apartments. Last year, the Charleston, South Carolina-based firm owned 80,121 units, placing it at No. 5.
• Rounding out the top five were King of Prussia, Pennsylvania-based Morgan Properties with 93,594 units (No. 3 last year), Arlington, Virginia-based REIT AvalonBay Communities with 80,325 units (No. 4 last year) and Chicago-based REIT Equity Residential (No. 6 last year) with 79,594 units. All three of these firms owned fewer apartments than in the previous year.

Dive Insight:

Last year’s No 1 apartment owner, Miami-based Starwood Capital Group, didn’t appear on this year’s NMHC Top 50. Replacing Starwood in the top 10 was Cortland, which claimed the No. 6 spot with 77,407 units. Last year, the Atlanta-based firm was not on the list, but it ranked No. 11 with 62,229 apartments in 2021.

Despite a slowdown in the sales market, some companies in the top 10 added units in 2022. The rest of the top 10 were:

• New York-based Nuveen Real Estate claimed the No. 7 spot with 73,374 apartments. It was No. 8 last year with 69,714 units.
• Franktown, Colorado-based Monarch Investment & Management Group was No. 8 with 71,661 apartments. Last year, it was No. 10 with 66,898 apartments.
• New York City-based The Related Cos. grabbed the No. 9 spot with 71,184 apartments. Last year, it was No. 7 with 75,023 units.
• Bloomfield Hills, Michigan-based Edward Rose Building Enterprise added more than 1,000 units in 2022, giving it 69,567 apartments. Despite that increase, it fell one spot to No. 10.

In a volatile year, a number of firms joined the Top 50 that weren’t on the list last year, including major developers like Boca Raton, Florida-based Mill Creek Residential (No. 35 with 33,424 units), Scottsdale, Arizona-based Alliance Residential (No. 36 with 32,417 units) and Cleveland-based The NRP Group (No. 44 with 27,908 units).

As the transaction market stalled in 2022, many developers were holding properties longer than they anticipated.

However, Mill Creek CEO William MacDonald told Multifamily Dive the transaction slowdown and the resulting decline in prices was only part of the reason the company’s units owned increased last year. It held off on taking properties to market in 2022 because of what it saw as a temporary drop in values. But the company is also financing more of its developments with joint venture partners who are looking to hold for the long term. Alliance Residential President and Chief Operating Officer Jay Hiemenz told Multifamily Dive his company also has a growing portfolio of projects that it is holding longer.

The 2023 Top 50 included three other newcomers:

• No. 37 Los Angeles-based Tides Equities with 31,942 units.
• No. 41 Austin, Texas-based GVA Management with 29,686 units.
• No. 46 San Diego-based MG Properties with 27,381 units.

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