New York-based Ashcroft Capital, a fully integrated multifamily investment firm, continues to grow its presence in the Orlando, Florida, metro. The firm has acquired Ascend Waterleigh Club, which it has rebranded as Birchstone Waterleigh. The Class A garden-style community features 300 apartments and is located in Horizon West, a 22,000-acre master-planned community in Winter Garden.

Read Christine Serlin’s full article on MFE.

Birchstone Waterleigh is only steps away from our existing property, Halston Waterleigh. This strategic acquisition deepens our footprint in one of Orlando’s most dynamic submarkets and reflects our ongoing commitment to targeted growth, operational synergy, and value creation for our investors.

If you are interested in reviewing our current offerings, please visit https://info.ashcroftcapital.com/current-offerings, or schedule a call with our Investor Relations Team. We look forward to the opportunity to work with you and align our investment interests.   

“Birchstone Waterleigh is a Class A luxury community with high-end interior design and resort-like amenities,” said Frank Roessler, founder and CEO of Ashcroft. “This acquisition is another step in our ongoing pursuit of high-quality assets, and we could not be more excited to add this property to our portfolio. We continue to remain bullish on Orlando in general and Winter Garden in particular. When you combine the strong renter demand in this market with limited future apartment deliveries, it creates the exact opportunity we are seeking. Properties like this allow us to lean into our focus on excellent customer service with an emphasis on resident satisfaction and retention.”

Read the full article on YieldPro.

If you are interested in reviewing our current offering, please visit https://info.ashcroftcapital.com/fund, or schedule a call with our Investor Relations Team at investorrelations@ashcroftcapital.com. We look forward to the opportunity to work with you and align our investment interests.   

According to Multifamily Dive, apartment sales volume rose 7% year-over-year to $30 billion in Q1 2025, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of growth. The increase was driven largely by a 39% surge in single-property sales, while portfolio and entity-level sales continued to lag behind pre-pandemic levels. Despite recent market volatility, cap rates remained steady and multifamily performance showed resilience. Ashcroft’s Chief Investment Officer Scott Lebenhart is quoted sharing his perspective.

Read the full article at: Multifamily Dive

Article Excerpt:

However, Scott Lebenhart, chief investment officer at New York City-based apartment owner Ashcroft Capital, says the market has almost come to expect volatility in bonds.

“We have seen some major swings in rates recently, yet this is not dissimilar from previous fluctuations in rates,” Lebenhart told Multifamily Dive. “For new acquisitions, it’s important to layer in some cushion in rates when underwriting deals.”

Orlando-Area Class-A Community Features 300 Apartment Homes

NEW YORK, April 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Ashcroft Capital, a fully integrated multifamily investment firm, today announced its acquisition of Birchstone Waterleigh, a luxury garden-style community in Winter Garden, Fla. Birchstone Residential, Ashcroft Capital’s in-house property management and construction management company, is now providing services for the residents of the community, which was built in 2023.

The Class-A Birchstone Waterleigh (formerly Ascend Waterleigh Club) features 300 apartment homes and is located in the 22,000-acre Horizon West, one of the fastest-growing master-planned communities in the country. The community becomes Ashcroft’s second multifamily property in Winter Garden (the company acquired the adjacent Halston Waterleigh in late summer 2024) and its seventh in metro Orlando. The acquisition was completed through a joint venture that includes Temerity Strategic Partners and Pearlmark.

“Birchstone Waterleigh is a Class-A luxury community with high-end interior design and resort-like amenities,” said Frank Roessler, founder and CEO of Ashcroft. “This acquisition is another step in our ongoing pursuit of high-quality assets, and we could not be more excited to add this property to our portfolio. We continue to remain bullish on Orlando in general and Winter Garden in particular. When you combine the strong renter demand in this market with limited future apartment deliveries, it creates the exact opportunity we are seeking. Properties like this allow us to lean into our focus on excellent customer service with an emphasis on resident satisfaction and retention.”

Located at 9405 Ascend Falls Drive, Birchstone Waterleigh features one-, two- and three-bedroom homes ranging from 782 to 1,563 square feet. Community amenities include a resort-style saltwater pool, coworking lounge, 24-hour fitness center, enclosed dog park, 24-hour emergency maintenance service, game lounge, outdoor barbecue grills and dining areas, parcel lockers with 24-hour access, EV charging station and housekeeping services. Homes feature stainless steel appliances, built-in microwaves, hardwood-style flooring, full-size washers and dryers, modern lighting, ceiling fans, gray quartz counters and walk-in closets.

“Ultimately, we were attracted to Birchstone Waterleigh for multiple reasons,” said Scott Lebenhart, chief investment officer of Ashcroft Capital. “In addition to its obvious caliber, the community sits in a submarket that will see limited competitive new multifamily supply in the future because of its location in Horizon West and the restrictions of the master-planned community. Also, given its proximity to Halston Waterleigh and our other communities in the Orlando area, Birchstone Waterleigh should further enable us to create economies of scale and operational efficiencies in central Florida. Finally, the community is located in a top-rated school district that serves as a powerful draw for renters.”

“Birchstone Waterleigh represents a great opportunity to acquire a high-quality, stabilized asset directly from the developer within the in-demand Horizon West master plan,” said Stephen Quazzo, CEO and co-founder of Pearlmark. “The property also benefits from its proximity to Walt Disney World, top-rated schools, and will benefit from Birchstone Residential’s experience in the market. Pearlmark is proud to acquire this best-in-class investment with our like-minded joint venture partners.”

Birchstone Waterleigh is the first Ashcroft community to be rebranded with “Birchstone” in its name. Ashcroft plans to continue to rebrand Class-A properties it acquires with the Birchstone name.

In addition to Florida, Ashcroft owns communities throughout Texas, Georgia and North Carolina. The company is actively pursuing additional markets in the Sun Belt.

About Ashcroft Capital
Established in 2015, Ashcroft Capital is a fully integrated multifamily investment firm that has $2.9 billion of multifamily assets, totaling just over 14,000 units, across several fast-growing Sun Belt metropolitan areas. The firm prioritizes capital preservation while aiming to deliver robust, risk-adjusted cash-on-cash returns to its investors. Supported by high-net-worth individuals, family offices and institutional capital, Ashcroft Capital specializes in value-add and core-plus multifamily properties. The company’s approach emphasizes optimizing the value of each asset, and the firm focuses on acquiring top-tier apartment communities in prime submarkets of large, expanding U.S. cities. Ashcroft is committed to enhancing the living standards of the residents in every community it manages.

About Birchstone Residential
Birchstone Residential serves as the internal property management arm of Ashcroft Capital, offering a full suite of essential services, including leasing, maintenance and construction management. Specifically designed to implement the value-add strategy for Ashcroft’s properties, Birchstone focuses on maximizing financial returns while ensuring high levels of resident satisfaction. With a strong commitment to fostering a people-first culture, the company emphasizes employee growth through training, job enrichment and accelerated career development. Birchstone is dedicated to delivering exceptional service that not only attracts new residents but also enhances the quality of life of existing residents.

About Temerity Strategic Partners
Temerity Strategic Partners (“TSP”), headquartered in Chicago with offices in New York, is a real estate private equity firm focused on providing programmatic co-general partner (co-GP) capital to real estate operating, development, and asset management companies on behalf of its principals and a distinguished group of private and institutional investors. TSP provides growth capital, strategic resources, and access to TSP’s extensive relationships to support rapidly growing, market leading real estate owners and operators executing development, value-add, and core-plus strategies throughout the United States. Founded by industry veterans Bruce Cohen and Jeff Citrin, TSP leverages its experience in building, capitalizing, and investing in preeminent real estate operating platforms to support the pursuit of their long-term objectives. For more information, please visit www.temeritystrategic.com.

About Pearlmark
Pearlmark is a Chicago-based investment firm that targets domestic core-plus to value-add real estate opportunities via commingled funds, separate accounts, and joint venture structures. Since 1996, the Pearlmark team has sponsored more than 15 real estate equity and debt investment programs and completed 597 real estate equity and debt transactions on behalf of investors, representing $6.0 billion in equity capital commitments, $14.7 billion in gross investment value, and 167 originated loans aggregating over $2.2 billion in commitments. Pearlmark is dedicated to creating value for its investors and offers a range of investment opportunities nationwide across various property types (primarily industrial and multifamily). For more information, please visit https://www.pearlmark.com.

If you are interested in reviewing our current offering, please visit https://info.ashcroftcapital.com/fund, or schedule a call with our Investor Relations Team at investorrelations@ashcroftcapital.com. We look forward to the opportunity to work with you and align our investment interests.   

Multifamily investment firm Ashcroft Capital has stacked its Central Florida portfolio with an acquisition in a joint venture with Pearlmark, marking Ashcroft’s seventh property in the market so far.

Read Joshua S. Andino’s full article on CoStar.

A Multifamily Executive news article examining the anticipation of developers’ and investors’ recovery of the multifamily industry in the year ahead with comments and perspective from Ashcroft Capital CEO Frank Roessler.

“The bid-ask spread of buyer and seller expectations has tightened,” Roessler told the magazine. Commenting on the seller’s acceptance of current interest rates, “They’re making realistic decisions and capitulating,” he added.

Visit Multifamily Executive to read the entire article.

Metro Fort Lauderdale Community Adds 360 Homes to Firm’s Florida Portfolio

COCONUT CREEK, Fla., Dec. 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Ashcroft Capital, a fully integrated multifamily investment firm, today announced the acquisition of Elliot Cocoplum, a garden-style community located midway between Boca Raton and Fort Lauderdale. Birchstone Residential, Ashcroft Capital’s in-house property management company and construction affiliate, has assumed management of the community and will oversee its upcoming improvements. The acquisition marks Ashcroft’s entry into the South Florida market.

Elliot Cocoplum (formerly Advenir at Cocoplum), which features 360 apartment homes and townhomes, marks Ashcroft’s 10th apartment community within Florida. The community was acquired with equity from Ashcroft and affiliates in a partnership with Peaceable Street Capital.

“The Fort Lauderdale metro is one of the most popular destinations for relocation in the nation, as residents continue to migrate from several pockets of the U.S.,” said Frank Roessler, founder and CEO of Ashcroft. “The metro has experienced a population growth of 13% since 2010, which bodes well for the long-term health of the regional apartment market. While new construction in the area has focused on high-density product, we believe that considerable demand still exists for low-density, garden-style products such as Elliot Cocoplum. We’re confident the quiet, suburban environment—along with our upgrades and our commitment to improving the quality of our residents’ lives—will make the community a top-of-market option.”

Originally built in 1986 and situated at 4142 Cocoplum Circle, Elliot Cocoplum offers one-, two- and three-bedroom homes ranging as large as 1,495 square feet, with townhomes accounting for nearly 50% of the units. Existing amenities include two swimming pools, a resident clubhouse and business center, fitness center, outdoor kitchen and a dog park.

Ashcroft’s renovation efforts will include a comprehensive update and modernization of the amenity spaces, improved curb appeal, updated landscaping and signage, and the implementation of electric vehicle charging stations. In-home improvements will include the additions of stainless-steel appliances, tile backsplashes, vinyl-plank flooring, upgraded lighting and plumbing fixtures, a smart home technology package, matte black hardware and private yards for select ground-floor units. Additionally, hard-surface countertops will be implemented in select homes.

“Because of its strong history of institutional ownership, the property has received regular capital improvements since its inception and was delivered in superb condition,” said David Deitz, president of Birchstone Residential. “That said, we believe we can further modernize the community and deliver outstanding customer service to provide an even more attractive option to discerning renters. We look forward to joining the submarket and offering a best-in-class experience.”

In addition to Florida, Ashcroft owns communities throughout Texas, Georgia and North Carolina. The company is actively pursuing additional markets in the Sun Belt.

About Ashcroft Capital

Founded in 2015, Ashcroft Capital is a vertically integrated multifamily investment firm that currently owns and manages 14,000 units – totaling $2.6 billion in value – throughout several high-growth metros of the Sun Belt. The firm focuses on capital preservation while striving to return strong, risk-adjusted cash-on-cash to investors. Ashcroft is capitalized with high net worth, family office and institutional capital. Ashcroft specializes in value-add multifamily real estate and exhibits an expertise in extracting maximum value from every asset it acquires. Rather than attempting to play cycle timing, the firm strives to acquire excellent apartment communities within well-located submarkets of large and growing U.S. metros. Ashcroft is driven by a focused mission to improve the quality of life of the residents at each community in its portfolio.

About Birchstone Residential

Birchstone Residential is the in-house property management company of Ashcroft Capital. It has a comprehensive property management platform that provides all essential services, including leasing, maintenance, and construction management. Birchstone was purpose-built to execute the value-add business plan for each Ashcroft property, optimize financial returns and deliver high resident satisfaction. Committed to a people-centric culture and employee development through job training, job enrichment and accelerated development, Birchstone seeks to provide best-in-class service that attracts new residents and enriches the lifestyles of current residents.

If you are interested in reviewing our current offering, please visit https://info.ashcroftcapital.com/fund, or schedule a call with our Investor Relations Team at investorrelations@ashcroftcapital.com. We look forward to the opportunity to work with you and align our investment interests.   

Ashcroft Capital has expanded its multifamily presence in Florida with its debut acquisition in the Sarasota area. The firm and joint venture partner Iviron Capital have acquired Halston Lakeside in Sarasota, Fla. The identity of the seller could not immediately be disclosed.

Read Jackson Chen’s full article on Multi-Housing News.

Multifamily investment firm Ashcroft Capital continues to expand its Florida footprint. The firm has acquired the 358-unit Halston Lakeside in Sarasota, marking its first property in this fast-growing Gulf Coast region as well as its ninth in the state.

Read Christine Serlin’s full article on Multifamily Executive.

Ashcroft Capital CEO Frank Roessler recently sat down with MFE Magazine to discuss the current pace of investment sales. In the interview, Frank talks about when sales might pick back up, details why multifamily offers long-term appeal to investors, and shares Ashcroft’s current acquisition strategy.

Read the full article at MFE Magazine.

Article Excerpt:

MFE: Do you see any reason to believe that there will be a long-term dip in investor interest in multifamily properties?

Roessler: I think multifamily is poised to attract strong investor interest over the long term. Whether we’re going through a rent-growth plateau or even a slight decline, the fundamentals still remain very strong compared with other asset classes.

In addition, the current cost of buying a home in a time of higher interest rates will support apartment demand, and the impact of a recession on renter demand could be relatively minimal. Generally speaking, companies have strong balance sheets, which should minimize layoffs during a downturn.

MFE: What is Ashcroft’s current acquisition strategy?

Roessler: We’re focused on good product. We haven’t acquired a community this year, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t looking for the right fit. The current climate can create opportunities for disciplined buyers with the ability to scour the markets and wait for the right property to come along. We don’t attempt to play real estate cycles. However, we do believe the next 12 to 18 months could present interesting opportunities in our target markets throughout the Sun Belt.

MFE Staff. “Q&A With Frank Roessler of Ashcroft Capital” MFE Magazine, 1 June, 2023, https://www.multifamilyexecutive.com/business-finance/business-trends/q-a-with-frank-roessler-of-ashcroft-capital_o.

The National Apartment Association, recently sat down with Ashcroft’s Chief Investment Officer Scott Lebenhart to discuss a number of topics, including investment philosophy, growth in the metro Atlanta market, expansion into North Carolina, and their plans for 2023.

Read the full article at National Apartment Association.

Article Excerpt:

What are your investment and growth plans for 2023?

Lebenhart: 2023 will be a very interesting year for all of us in the multifamily space. In a general sense, we plan to continue to pursue high-quality properties in strong Sun Belt locations. More specifically, we will focus our acquisition efforts on unique properties that feature mostly two- and three-bedroom units and offer residents home-like features such as direct/indirect access garages, large floor plans and
townhome-style units.

At the end of 2022, we entered the North Carolina market with our purchase of Midtown 501 in Chapel Hill, and we intend to build a sizable presence over time in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area that will afford us economies of scale.

Over the course of 2023, we will look to continue to acquire properties in our existing Sun Belt markets (Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville and Raleigh-Durham) while also pursuing opportunities in South Florida, Austin, San Antonio, Charlotte, Nashville and Phoenix. The current volatility in the capital markets can make acquisitions a challenge, but we remain committed to taking advantage of the right opportunities when they present themselves.

Broadly speaking, how do you see the apartment market performing in the year ahead, and what will the investment sales landscape look like?

Lebenhart: Given the rise in interest rates and the resulting spike in the cost of homeownership, we believe demand will continue to remain strong for rental housing. In our own portfolio, we are still seeing rental growth and strong occupancy rates. We continue to see strong demand for the units that we renovate.

As for investment sales, word of some deals here and there is beginning to trickle out, which is helping to create those data points and benchmarks that everyone is looking for. It’s clear there is still significant capital pursuing multifamily properties. However, the debt market remains volatile, but lenders are working to get creative in order to give borrowers options on both acquisitions and refinances. Until there is some more clarity on interest rates and the price of debt, sales will continue to be slow, but I expect some clarity midway through the year, and transaction volume should pick up at that point. As more deals begin to happen, I believe that will help to restore some investor confidence. And while some distressed sales definitely will occur throughout the year, I don’t expect the flood of these properties later this year that some others are expecting.

“Investing in the Future” National Apartment Association, 18 May, 2023, https://www.naahq.org/investing-future.

Ashcroft Capital’s Chief Investment Office, Scott Lebenhart, wrote an article for Multifamily Insiders, shared on April 24, 2023, “Apartment Investment Sales Will Rebound in Time”

Read the full article at Multifamily Insiders.

Article Excerpt:

Looking ahead, it appears the slow pace of multifamily property sales will continue for a while. But at some point – and perhaps sooner rather than later – multifamily properties will once again become a favorite destination for investor dollars.

The Current Landscape
It’s no mystery why the pace of property sales is so slow. Rising interest rates and volatility in the debt markets – including the recent failures of several regional banks – have made transactions difficult. Slowing rent growth, the impact of a potential recession on renter demand and soaring property insurance costs are giving buyers pause, too. As a result, while there appears to be plenty of capital looking to invest in multifamily, a large gap generally still remains between sellers’ asking prices and what buyers are willing to pay.

In addition, not many distressed properties are available for acquisition right now as those owners still have term on their loans, which gives them the ability to wait a bit longer in hopes that the capital markets will improve and allow them to refinance their current loans with more favorable options than are available today. Investors are waiting for these properties to become truly distressed, and there is widespread belief that more will be on the market later in the year.

It’s quite possible that investment sales won’t pick up real momentum until next year. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates again in March, and according to the Associated Press, there is support among Fed officials for at least one more rate hike this year.

But as we gain more clarity about the interest rate outlook, which could happen later this year, sales activity will begin to rise, and you don’t have to squint hard to see the multifamily sector once again becoming a favored asset among investors.

Lebenhart, Scott. “Apartment Investment Sales Will Rebound in Time” Multifamily Insiders, 24 April 2023, https://www.multifamilyinsiders.com/multifamily-blogs/apartment-investment-sales-will-rebound-in-time

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

 

Industry experts are optimistic about the long-term strength of the Dallas-Fort Worth multifamily market, citing strong migration and economic trends.

In the first half of 2022, the metro added just under 150,000 jobs, the largest gain in the nation, according to Marcus & Millichap’s recent market report for the third quarter. Dallas-Fort Worth also ranked at the top for overall population growth in a metro area with the Census Bureau reporting 97,290 people added between July 2020 and July 2021.

That’s welcomed news for multifamily developers and owners in the market, with population growth outpacing inventory growth.

Read the full article by Christine Serlin at Multifamily Executive

The Atlanta rental market is expected to remain strong due to a healthy economy, a lower cost of living, good demographic trends, and positive rent growth, according to a midyear multifamily report for the metro from Berkadia.

Multifamily starts have increased since the beginning of the pandemic due to recent strong demand. More than 26,000 units have been added since the beginning of 2020, with delivery of 4,500 units in the first half of this year. In all, 11,752 units are expected to be delivered in 2022, with another 20,385 deliveries projected for 2023. According to Berkadia, leasing activity hasn’t kept pace with the deliveries in the first half of the year, with the market seeing a drop in occupancy. However, the current occupancy rate of 95.7% is higher than the pre-pandemic average of 94.5% in 2019’s fourth quarter.

Read the full article by Christine Serlin at Multifamily Executive.

Ashcroft Capital Founder and CEO Frank Roessler was a guest on The Multifamily Review podcast. Over the course of the more than 20 minute interview, Frank discusses his career in real estate and the launch of Ashcroft.

To listen to the full episode, you can access it on Stitcher and Google Podcasts.

A Multi-Housing News article examining today’s in-demand apartment amenities features comments and perspective from Ashcroft Capital CEO Frank Roessler.

“It really comes down to convenience and flexibility,” Roessler told the magazine. “Home isn’t just a place to lay your head down at night anymore. Residents are even more focused on comfort, space and amenity packages.”

He added that residents are placing a higher priority on playgrounds and green spaces in the work-from-home era.

“These spaces offer an additional place for kids to expend energy while their parents work remotely,” he said.

Visit Multi-Housing News to read the entire article.