Christopher Todd Capital Acquires Texas BTR Communities
The buy is the latest in a string of Sun Belt acquisitions for the investor.
Christopher Todd Capital has purchased Avilla Parkway and Avilla Reserve, two build-to-rent communities totaling 335 houses in the greater Dallas-Fort-Worth area. Their developer, NexMetro Communities, sold the properties. The buyer declined to disclose the price for either asset.
The Arizona-based investor is rebranding both communities following the acquisition. The 108-unit Avilla Parkway, located at 3420 S. Dallas Pkwy. in the suburb of Celina will become Christopher Todd Neighborhoods Celina Park. Avilla Reserve, a 227-unit property, is now Christopher Todd Neighborhoods Elizabeth Creek. The latter property is located at 1104 State Highway 114 in the city of Justin, which is roughly 20 miles north of Fort Worth.
Christopher Todd has tapped Willow Bridge Property Company to manage both communities.
Both properties were built in 2021, and offer a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom houses, with the one-bedroom units sectioned into duplexes, while the larger units are single-family dwellings. The houses range in size from 635 square feet to 1,236 square feet, with rents averaging of $2,164 to $2,198 a month, according to Yardi Matrix data.
The homes are one-story frame construction, and include washers and dryers, microwave ovens and high-speed internet access. Common-area amenities in both communities include swimming pools, covered parking and detached garages.
The deal is the latest acquisition in the BTR space for Christopher Todd. In late 2024, the investor made its first Texas purchase with the pickup of The Cottage Green, a 314-unit community located in Conroe, a suburb of Houston. Altogether, Christopher Todd has acquired more than $250 million of purpose-built, cottage-style communities in the last 12 months, including in metro Phoenix and Houston.
NexMetro has developed 13 other BTR projects in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, with more in its pipeline. Altogether, the company has 58 BTR neighborhoods that have either been completed, are under construction or in lease-up.
Bullish BTR market
Single-family build-to-rent property fundamentals are healthy, even though rent growth is slowing, according to Yardi Matrix. Year-over-year in March, BTR rent growth was flat.
READ ALSO: What Does the New Wave of BTR Homes Look Like? Here’s Crescent’s View
Occupancy for BTR communities averaged 94.7 percent in February, the same source shows, with no declines projected for the near future. The high costs of U.S. home ownership, which forces many individuals to be renters, will continue to drive this trend.
BTR occupancy has been growing the fastest in the Jacksonville, Austin and Salt Lake City areas, Yardi Matrix reports. Each metro is seeing occupancy growth rise by more than 100 basis points compared with a year ago. Rent growth has been the strongest in the Inland Empire, followed by Kansas City and South Dakota.
