Crescent Starts Work on Tampa-Area BTR Project
It's the final investment of a $340 million build-to-rent focused joint venture.
Crescent Communities has broken ground on Harmon Ashton Oaks, 115-unit build-to-rent townhome community in Wesley Chapel, Fla., a suburb of Tampa. The community is being built on 28 acres at the intersection of state highway Florida 54 and Ashton Oaks Blvd., and will see its first residents later this year.
The property will include 115 two-story, three- and four-bedroom townhomes averaging more than 1,800 square feet. . Each residence will have a two-car garage and private yard.
Community amenities will include a resort-style pool with cabanas, a grilling area, a sports field and event lawn as well as a dog park.
Harmon Ashton Oaks is Crescent’s first Harmon-branded property in the greater Tampa market and the sixth and final investment in the first tranche of its expanded $340 million build-to-rent-focused joint venture with Heitman. DRB Group, a Sumitomo Forestry affiliate, will build the development’s townhouses. The project is also planned as part of a larger neighborhood development.
READ ALSO: 2026 Will Be a Test for SFR/BTR. Here’s Why.
Crescent is responding to sustained demand for housing that offers a single-family home’s space without the commitment of ownership, Crescent Senior Managing Director of Single-Family Build-to-Rent Tony Chen said in a statement.
Yardi Matrix reported in January that average rents for single-family build-to-rent units fell slightly overall, but demand and occupancy remain healthy nationwide. The average BTR advertised rent dropped a minuscule $2 in January to $2,184, while year-over-year, rents were down 0.9 percent
A wave of development
The Tampa metro is seeing robust multifamily development, according to Yardi Matrix data. Developers completed about 8,500 units during the first three quarters of 2025, and the market currently has 18,000 apartments under construction. An additional 104,500 units are in the planning and permitting stages.
This week, Lincoln Avenue Communities started construction on Olea on 126 Apartments, a 144-unit affordable project taking shape in Largo, on the west side of Tampa Bay.
In late December, Kolter Multifamily submitted plans for Alton Skyway, a 619-unit project that will be built at the site of a former college campus. St. Petersburg’s Development Review Commission analyzed the proposal last month.
