Dive Brief:

• Earlier this week, Cityview announced its expansion into the Eastern U.S. by opening a New York City office headed by Christoph Donner, the firm’s global head of capital development and strategy and former CEO of PIMCO Prime Real Estate LLC.
• The Los Angeles-based real estate investment manager intends to strategically expand its investment and capital-raising strategy beyond its existing Western and Southwestern U.S. markets into the East Coast.
• Cityview also plans to pursue acquisition opportunities in Boston; Orlando, Florida; and Atlanta. In the future, it is targeting Raleigh, North Carolina, and Charleston, South Carolina, according to a news release.

Dive Insight:

To determine where to expand, Cityview partnered with RCLCO Real Estate Consulting to identify high-potential markets for multifamily investment based on historical performance, current fundamentals and forward-looking economic forecasts based on 55 key data points.

“Cityview has historically focused on supply-constrained markets on the West Coast, and in recent years we’ve diversified our strategy to include more demand-driven centers across the Southwestern U.S., including Dallas and Phoenix,” said Sean Burton, CEO of Cityview, in a news release. “Now, we’re expanding nationally with a strategic move into East Coast markets that show strong fundamentals and are poised for future growth.”

The key drivers in Cityview’s expansion markets are: 

• Boston’s high level of professional employment and education, which creates a stable foundation for demand, according to Cityview. New deliveries in the metro are low relative to demand and projected future supply.
• Orlando’s strong positive exposure to demand and relatively small negative exposure to supply, according to Cityview. The firm says the market’s strong employment and population growth and its business-friendly environment help drive its strong performance.
• Atlanta’s employment and population growth, which drove demand in the market higher than many of its peers, according to Cityview. In addition, the metro ranked first in average annual return over the past decade and in the top five for average yearly sales volume.

Cityview has also been active recently in its current investment markets. In the first quarter, it acquired four assets and recapitalized one property. Last December, the firm bought Candela, a 112-unit value-add in the Hollywood Hills and Franklin Village neighborhood of Los Angeles. It paid Raintree Partners $36 million for the asset.

“Well-located multifamily assets are poised to become even more desirable over the next five years as new multifamily construction starts have ground to a halt, making 2025 a prime opportunity to acquire existing product at today’s basis,” Burton told Multifamily Dive in January.

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