TruAmerica Marches Deeper Into Boston Multifamily Market

As part of its national spending push, TruAmerica is setting its sights on one of the country’s most famous cities: Boston.

The Los Angeles-based investment firm acquired The Sto in the suburb of Stoughton for $63 million, the Boston Business Journal reported. The deal for the 179-unit multifamily property breaks down to $352,000 per unit.

The seller of the property was the Braintree-based John M. Corcoran & Co. The last assessment of the building came in at $52 million, meaning the seller received a handsome premium in the deal.

The focus on The Sto — and the suburb less than 20 miles outside of Boston, specifically — is tied to housing affordability challenges in the area, according to TruAmerica. Last year (through November), the average condo in Stoughton sold for $395,000, while the median single-family home went for $615,000.

“Massachusetts continues to face acute housing affordability challenges, and Greater Boston remains one of the most supply-constrained rental markets in the country,” TruAmerica’s chief investment officer said in a statement.

The buyer is planning “targeted enhancements” at The Sto, which was built between 2018 and 2019.

The acquisition marks the fifth in the Greater Boston area for TruAmerica, all of which have unfolded since the onset of the pandemic.

In 2021, TruAmerica bought The Preserve at Cohasset for $90 million, Lux at Stoughton for $49 million and the Marquee at Andover for $42 million. Two years later, it bought the Highlands at Hudson for $40 million.

TruAmerica is in the midst of a $2.5 billion acquisition push, looking to purchase dozens of properties across the country. Last year, the company also formed a $1 billion affordable housing joint venture with Manulife Investment Management — dubbed Anchor Point Residential — which launched with a 6,000-unit portfolio of 51 properties constructed between 2003 and 2023, according to Multifamily Dive.

— Holden Walter-Warner