THE ZELLOFF CONTINUES: BILLIONAIRE SAM ZELL DUMPS $5.4B MULTIFAMILY PORTFOLIO

THE ZELLOFF CONTINUES: BILLIONAIRE SAM ZELL DUMPS $5.4B MULTIFAMILY PORTFOLIO


THE ZELLOFF CONTINUES: BILLIONAIRE SAM ZELL DUMPS $5.4B MULTIFAMILY PORTFOLIO  

Jan 28, 2016

In the billionaire’s latest recession-prep selloff, Sam Zell’s Equity Residential just unloaded 23,262 apartments in a $5.4B sale to Starwood Capital Group. The 72-property deal slims Equity Residential down to 318 properties, with plans to dump 26 more this year, Equity Residential CEO David Neithercut says. The idea is to focus on urban core markets where David expects greater returns, The Real Deal reports. Zell’s Equity Commonwealth dumped $1.7B worth of properties last year, with plans to bring that total to $3B. It’s tough to ignore a Zell selling spree. After Sam sold Equity Office to Blackstone for $39B in 2007…well…anyone heard of the Great Recession? [TRD]

HERE ARE THE MOST OVERBUILT MULTIFAMILY SUBMARKETS

Two submarkets—Downtown Boston and University City Philadelphia—are “leading” the pack as multifamily construction has outstripped demand in some downtowns and CBDs. At 14% and 13.5%, respectively, the two submarkets’ multifamily vacancy rates are the highest in the country, most of it coming since 2013, National Real Estate Investor reports. In fact, overbuilding is a problem throughout Boston; two other Boston submarkets found their way to the top 10 list of highest vacancies. In other regions, submarkets like DC’s H Street/NoMa and Charlotte’s South End have yet to see their vacancy peak. Both sit in the top three for inventory growth, with 2,725 and 2,126 new units, respectively.

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