Hunt Realty Makes Foray into Multifamily Development

Dallas–Akard Street Partners, an investment partnership operated by Hunt Realty Investments, has formed Trinsic Residential Group to develop multifamily properties in infill and suburban locations, initially focusing on major Texas markets. Later, the company plans to expand into other regions in which Trinsic Residential partners hold expertise.

Trinsic Residential anticipates that it will develop several projects annually, beginning in Texas: suburban, high-end, garden-style apartments, as well as high-density urban projects. “We believe there will be increasing demand for apartments for a number of reasons,” Steve Reynolds, director of acquisitions for Hunt Realty Investments, tells MHN, detailing why this is a good time for a new entity such as Trinsic Residential to have a go at multifamily development.

For one thing, “homeownership in Texas and nationwide will continue to decrease to a more normalized, historic level,” Reynolds says. “Also, we expect Texas to continue to add jobs at a higher rate than most states, resulting in increased household formation for the major Texas markets.

“Lastly,” he adds, “the prime rental age group is 20- to 34-year-olds, and the population of this group is increasing to almost 3 million people,” Reynolds continues. “This age group was hit especially hard with job losses during the economic downturn, forcing them to return home or find roommates. Now that they are gaining employment again, they are returning to the rental market.”

Brian Tusa, Joe Barrett, Silas Graham and Adam Brown will be running Trinsic Residential. Tusa was previously managing director for the North Texas region at Alliance Residential, while Barrett was previously COO for commercial real estate investments of Archon Group. Graham was managing director for the Southeast region at Alliance Residential, and Brown was a director with Greystar Real Estate Partners.