February 13, 2023

Ashcroft Capital’s Chief Investment Office, Scott Lebenhart, was recently quoted in a Multifamily Executive article shared on November 13, 2022, “Thriving Market: Is Charlotte the New Gem of Multifamily?”

Read the full article by Paul Willis at Multifamily Executive.

Article Excerpt:

Ashcroft Capital has not yet joined the Charlotte market. But the fully integrated multifamily investment firm, based in New York, certainly has its eyes on the city.

“We hope to plant the Ashcroft flag in Charlotte sooner than later as we have been exploring opportunities in the market for several years now,” says Scott Lebenhart, chief investment officer of Ashcroft Capital. “Charlotte’s population growth and relative affordability continually draw interest from investors. The attractive business climate, established infrastructure, and excellent quality of life has created the type of strong growth that we target in our investments.”

Lebenhart says it’s possible that when Ashcroft expands to the market, it could be more than just a small splash. The company spends a considerable amount of time studying the intricacies of a potential new market and creates economies of scale and efficiencies within the market. He points to the company’s presence in Atlanta, where Ashcroft purchased more than 3,400 units in the last year and a half.

Lebenhart says the presence of major companies within the Charlotte MSA has helped strengthen its fundamentals, specifically naming Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Microsoft, Nuveen, Honeywell, Truist and Coca-Cola as businesses that provide stability to the economy here. Employment, population, and income growth make Charlotte an extremely attractive market to invest in, he adds.

“As with most larger Sun Belt markets, Charlotte has seen a tremendous amount of investment activity,” Lebenhart says. “In the last 12 months, we have continued to see large institutions target investments in the Charlotte area. There have been $7.5 billion of apartment transactions over the past 12 months. Although we are seeing investment activity slow down—along with activity throughout the rest of the country—we are still seeing a lot of investor demand for product in the Charlotte MSA.”

Lebenhart says Ashcroft will be diligent to invest in areas of Charlotte where demand will be the strongest moving forward, aiming to avoid any submarkets where absorption rates are affected by the influx of incoming supply.

Willis, Paul. “Thriving Market: Is Charlotte the New Gem of Multifamily?” Multifamily Executive, 13 November 2022, https://www.multifamilyexecutive.com/business-finance/business-trends/thriving-market-is-charlotte-the-new-gem-of-multifamily_o