Ballast, Carlyle Team Up for Another Apartment Purchase

Ballast is adding another Pacific Heights apartment property to its growing San Francisco portfolio.

The San Francisco-based multifamily owner-operator acquired the 80-unit Grosvenor Atrium at 1690 Broadway for $35.3 million, the San Francisco Business Times reported. The seller was an affiliate of Grosvenor Properties, which had owned the building for decades and is selling off multifamily assets across the city. The property is 97 percent occupied, according to records cited by the Business Times.

The acquisition continues Ballast’s rapid buying streak across San Francisco, particularly in Pacific Heights and surrounding areas. Last month, the firm picked up a three-building, 110-unit apartment portfolio at 1725, 1735 and 1755 Van Ness Avenue in Pacific Heights for $48.5 million. Earlier this year, Ballast acquired five multifamily properties in Hayes Valley, Lower Haight and the Western Addition, spending $32.4 million for the buildings.

The entity that purchased 1690 Broadway is registered to the Washington, D.C. address of Carlyle Group. Ballast, whose founders are former Carlyle executives, has teamed up with Carlyle in the past. Last year, the two firms partnered to acquire another Grosvenor-owned Pacific Heights property at 2055 Sacramento Street for $31.9 million.

Ballast has become one of the city’s most active multifamily buyers since the market’s pandemic downturn. In 2023, Ballast partnered with Brookfield to acquire a 2,149-unit San Francisco apartment portfolio, marking one of the first major institutional bets on the city’s post-pandemic apartment recovery. The company also manages Parkmerced, the city’s largest apartment complex, after it fell into receivership last year.

Ballast’s push comes as San Francisco apartment fundamentals rebound sharply after years of pandemic-era weakness. Last month, median one-bedroom rents climbed 19.9 percent year over year to $3,850, while two-bedroom rents jumped 22.8 percent to $5,340, representing one of the fastest growth rates in the country, per Zumper data cited by the Business Times.

— Chris Malone Méndez