Davidson Holding Enters Single-Family Rental Market

EverGreen Living. Image courtesy of Davidson Holding Co.

Davidson Holding Co. has entered the single-family rental (SFR) business with the launch of EverGreen Living and has tapped Creighton Call, a commercial and residential investment and development veteran, to run the new division.

Adam Davidson, founder, president & CEO of Davidson Holding, which owns the rapidly growing homebuilding company, Davidson Homes, called the new division, “an exciting new phase in the expansion of our company.” Davidson noted in prepared remarks the build-for-rental industry is expected to see significant future growth as young families and Baby Boomers look for housing alternatives that offer the best of Class A apartments and single-family home amenities in resort-style communities.

EverGreen has already purchased land in Huntsville, Ala., for SFR development. The company plans to build 4,000 homes—about 800 to 1,000 annually—during the next five years in multiple markets in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee. EverGreen will focus on markets where Davidson Homes already has a presence such as the greater Huntsville area, Middle Tennessee, Raleigh-Durham area in North Carolina and the Atlanta metropolitan area.

Each SFR community will have between 150 and 250 homes and feature amenities including private yards, hard-surface and tile floors, stainless-steel appliances and access to a clubhouse, swimming pool and walking trails. Rents are expected to range between $1,200 ad $1,300 a month. Home sizes will be about 800 to 1,000 square feet for a one-bedroom home; 1,000 to 1,200 square feet for a two-bedroom house and 1,300 to 1,400 square feet for a three-bedroom house.

Call Facts

Most recently, Call was vice president of development for Flywheel Group in Charlotte, N.C., where he led the development efforts for a large, transit-oriented development in Charlotte. Call has nearly 13 years of experience acquiring, capitalizing and developing large- and small-scale commercial and residential properties.

He previously held senior development positions at Crescent Communities and Hines throughout the Southeast. During that period, he managed the entitlement and development of 15 mixed-use communities totaling 9,000 residential lots, 4,000 multifamily units and several million square feet of commercial development. Call earned his master’s degree in real estate development from Auburn University and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Ohio University.

SFR Market Matters

In March, ATTOM Data Solutions released a report that analyzed rental data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and found the SFR market saw rental returns decreasing year-over-year in 50 percent of the 389 counties analyzed. The average annual gross rental yield among all the counties was 8.4 percent for 2020, an 8.6 percent decrease from the average in 2019, according to the ATTOM analysis. Three of the top performers for 2020 in counties with at least 100,000 residents were located in Alabama and Georgia. Among counties with at least one million residents, the highest yields were found in Wayne County, Mich.; Cook County, Ill.; and Dallas and Harris counties in Texas. 

In a milestone deal for the SFR sector, Global City Development teamed up with alternative investment firm Leste in December on a $2.5 billion housing platform that expects to build 10,000 single-family rental homes across the U.S. Cassa Life plans to develop properties in about 30 communities throughout Washington, D.C., the Southeast and Texas over the next five to seven years.