Crescent Communities Launches SFR Brand
The developer will start with as many as 200 new residences in each of four markets.
Expanding past its luxury multifamily experience, Crescent Communities is launching a single family build-for-rent brand in four initial markets across the U.S.
According to Crescent, the brand will be unveiled this summer and will focus on single family rentals in high-growth markets starting with Atlanta, Charleston, S.C., and Charlotte and Raleigh, N.C.
Crescent is planning 100 to 200 residences in each market, with a combination of three- and four-bedroom townhomes and/or detached single family houses. The company will primarily work with DRB Group to build its new product across the East Coast.
Todd Mansfield, chairman & CEO of Crescent, said in prepared remarks that Crescent’s new brand will have a competitive advantage because of its affiliate relationship with homebuilders in the Sumitomo Forestry portfolio, which includes DRB Group. The relationship will let Crescent scale its business growth rapidly, Mansfield added in his prepared statement.
The new brand will be led by Tony Chen, who just joined Crescent as a managing director. Chen brings his experience as the former vice president, chief of staff & head of office of strategic initiatives at FirstKey Homes, which also developed single-family rentals across the U.S.
Chen said in prepared remarks that this was an opportunity for Crescent to address the growing demand of single-family rentals. The sector has seen accelerated growth with the COVID-19 pandemic, but experts said that the trend predated the pandemic and will likely continue past it.
NOVEL EXPERIENCE
Despite pursuing a new sector, Crescent will be able to draw on its experience with its luxury multifamily brand, NOVEL. The company launched its NOVEL brand in August 2017 and has since developed communities in Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and more.
In October 2019, Crescent sold NOVEL Rio in Tempe, Ariz., for $66.3 million after completing the community in February of that year.
In the past decade, Crescent has invested and developed more than $6.3 billion of multifamily and commercial developments in 14 markets across the U.S.
Its multifamily portfolio includes nearly 19,000 units and more than 450,000 square feet of retail that’s completed or under construction and planning, totaling $4 billion in value.