Realstar BTR platform plots overseas expansion

Realstar and its build-to-rent platform Uncle are planning overseas expansion of their portfolio, targeting major cities in the US and Canada. The platform, founded by Ryan Prince (pictured) in the UK in 2017, is exploring acquisitions in several cities in a move that could add billions to the portfolio. It is on the lookout for refurbishment opportunities, as well as ground-up development similar to the UK strategy. Prince told EG: “I would love to find markets where you could take existing buildings and improve them to make them fit for purpose for an Uncle. In London, that just doesn’t exist, but in other cities where it would exist, we’d love to do that.” The growth plans could see a debut BTR investment in the US for Realstar, which has CA$8bn (£4.7bn) in assets in Canada and the UK, with 25,000 flats. “We have looked actively in the US and have debated between taking a New York or Los Angeles approach,” said Prince. “New York looks increasingly more interesting, given that it is so out of favour today.” Prince also noted potential in “growth cities” such as Nashville and Austin. [caption id="attachment_1090697" align="aligncenter" width="847"] Uncle, Manchester[/caption] He said the platform would look to build on Realstar’s footprint of some 200 buildings in Canada through harnessing the existing property management platform, with an eye on opportunities in Toronto and Vancouver. Prince added: “To go find sites, develop or convert four, five or 10 buildings should be a pretty straightforward exercise for us.” In the UK, at the start of this year, Realstar inked a CA$1bn (£580m) deal to buy a portfolio of eight assets. The transaction took the joint venture to 14 assets valued at around CA$2.5bn. Quadreal also took a stake in the UK Uncle management business, meaning all future schemes will be owned and managed by the joint venture, though additional capital could be added to the pool. Together the pair will seek to grow this to more than CA$5bn in five years. However, the international Uncle brand is not exclusively held by Quadreal, allowing Realstar and Uncle to team up through different partnerships with investors taking a majority stake. “In our world, I’d love a customer one day to think, ‘I’m a renter, I really want to live in an Uncle, do they have a building that suits my requirements?’” said Prince. “What cities have the challenges of London and where could we play a role in those cities?”  ‘Blood on the streets’ Realstar and Uncle are also pursuing a return to UK hotels after almost a decade. In 2005, Realstar led a consortium of investors with Singapore’s GIC and Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners, in the £1bn acquisition of 73 Holiday Inns. The deal was the largest on record, and the portfolio was disposed of in three tranches over 2014 and 2015. Prince said he was on lookout for opportunity from forced sellers coming out of the pandemic. “There is no question that there’s lots of blood in the streets, in terms of owners who have assets that are closed,” said Prince. “That’s difficult and there has to be some kind of sales or re-capitalisations that come out of it.” He added: “That’s a set of circumstances that will appear when you see a vendor in whatever shape that forms and a business plan that covers you enough. Where and how and when we see that, we’ll have to wait and see.” To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@eg.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or EGPropertyNews Photos: Realstar