Northland expands Texas multifamily holdings

Multifamily residential properties in rapidly growing Texas have been doing brisk business lately—and it’s a trend that’s not limited to the state’s biggest cities.

Massachusetts company Northland has been bulking up in Texas for the past two years, focusing on the Austin area and Corpus Christi. On Thursday, it acquired the Legend apartment complex in Waco, which is about 100 miles north of Austin. The central Texas city has about 140,000 residents and is home to both Baylor University and DIY royalty Chip and Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia empire.

The Legend is a gated, garden-community complex six miles from downtown Waco. It has 300 apartments in three-story buildings on 17 acres, with one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and a robust array of community amenities. Rents posted on its website range from $1,350 to $1,825 per month.

Northland is a closely held real estate private equity firm that specializes in acquisition, development, management and long-term ownership of multifamily and mixed-use real estate in the U.S. The company now owns and operates 17 residential properties in Texas, most of them in the Austin area and purchased within the past two years.

“We love Texas, as does every one of our competitors, it seems,” said Mike Campbell, Northland’s associate vice president of acquisitions, on a Friday phone call. “It’s growing at an incredible pace. There’s a lot of opportunity for tax efficiency, and it affords a lower cost of living for a better lifestyle than most coastal entry cities.”

The company started investing in Texas in the 1990s, when then CEO Larry Gottesdiener—now the firm’s chairman—saw opportunities in the multifamily sector there following the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, said Campbell.

The Legend acquisition marks the company’s entry into the Waco market. Campbell said the property was appealing because of its fairly new vintage, which makes operating costs lower. It’s also in a location convenient to employers, near both an Amazon fulfillment center and Baylor Scott & White Medical Center, in a growing job market. Northland is looking to make more multifamily investments on the I-35 corridor between Austin and Dallas, said Campbell.

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