Empire Group Lands $47M for San Antonio BTR Project
First move-ins are expected in the third quarter of 2025.
The Empire Group of Cos. has received a $47.4 million construction loan for Village at Mayfair, a 217-unit build-to-rent project in New Braunfels, Texas. Arbor Realty Trust originated the non-recourse loan, public records show.
Tower Capital arranged the financing in its 12th collaboration with Empire Group. One of their previous deals involved the $72.9 million financing for the Village at Golden Triangle, a 317-unit single-family rental in Fort Worth, Texas.
Legacy MCS will serve as general contractor for Village at Mayfair, Empire Group’s third Texas project. First move-ins are expected in 2025’s third quarter.
READ ALSO: Build-to-Rent Development: Here’s Where BTR Is Blooming
When complete, the community will encompass cottage-style homes averaging 1,023 square feet. Units will feature smart-home technology, 9- to 10-foot ceilings, quartz countertops and private patios or yards, among others. Amenities are slated to include a gym, swimming pool, pond, clubhouse, car-service station, as well as multiple open spaces and walking paths.
Located at 5450 Guthrie Trail, the project’s site is less than 1 mile from Interstate 35 and roughly 8 miles north of the New Braunfels National Airport. Downtown San Antonio and Austin are some 38 and 44 miles away, respectively.
The development will take shape inside Mayfair, SouthStar Communities’ 1,900-acre master-planned community. Empire Group purchased the 19.7-acre parcel from SouthStar last year, in a transaction brokered by the Land Advisors Organization.
Construction on the master-planned community began in 2022, with full completion expected in more than 15 years. Mayfair is set to include 6,000 residential units, as well as more than 220 acres of commercial, mixed-use and office space, north of 330 acres of parks and open space, 35 miles of hiking and biking trails, a fire station and multiple schools.
San Antonio’s booming single-family rental scene
As of June, metro San Antonio’s build-to-rent supply pipeline amounted to more than of 1,700 under-construction units—a staggering 74.1 percent of total stock—with more than 2,200 units in the planning and permitting stages, according to Yardi Matrix data.
The data provider forecasts that more than 1,200 single-family rental units will come online in the metro this year should market conditions hold, greatly surpassing last year’s completions totaling some 580 units.
