The 10 Largest Apartment Owners
With over 800,000 multifamily units under ownership, these are the ten biggest apartment owners in the United States. It is important to note that some of these companies do not manage or operate all of the apartments they own. This post covers the 10 largest apartment management companies. Click on any company to learn more about their organization and portfolio.
1. MAA – 100,864 Units
2. Equity Residential – 79,260 Units
3. AvalonBay Communities – 78,549 Units
4. Starwood Capital Group – 76,932 Units
5. Related Companies – 69,300 Units
6. Edward Rose Building Enterprise – 64,662 Units
7. Greystar Real Estate Partners – 62,045 Units
8. The Irvine Company, LLC – 60,592 Units
9. Hunt Companies – 60,217 Units
10. Essex Property Trust – 60,200 Units
About The 10 Largest Apartment Owners
About MAA
The largest apartment owner in the United States, MAA, is also the 7th largest apartment management company. Currently they own and manage their entire 100,000+ unit portfolio. MAA, short for Mid-America Apartment Communities is publicly traded REIT headquartered in Germantown, TN. The current CEO is H. Eric Bolton Jr.
About Equity Residential
Number 2 on the list of the 10 largest apartment owners is Equity Residential, who also ranks 10th on the list of largest apartment management companies. They currently own and manage all 79,260 units in their portfolio. They are a publicly traded company under the direction of Mark J. Parrell, the current CEO. Equity was founded by real estate pioneer Sam Zell and is one arm of his diversified portfolio that also includes Equity Lifestyle Properties and Equity Commonwealth, which focus on manufactured home communities and commercial office properties, respectively.
About AvalonBay Communities
AvalonBay Communities is the first company on our list that does not manage every unit it owns. They currently own 78,549 and manage all but 1,897 of them, ranking them as the 11th largest apartment manager in the country. The company is led by Timothy Naughton from their headquarters in Arlington, VA.
About Starwood Capital Group
Starwood Capital Partners is the first company on the list that is not a publicly traded REIT. Additionally, they own approximately 17,000 units that are managed by other companies. Operating as a global private investment company, Starwood Capital Partneres is headquartered in Miami, FL, Starwood Capital Partner’s current CEO is Barry S. Sternlicht.
About Related Companies
Another large owner and manager, Related Companies rank 5th on our list of the 10 largest apartment owners. They currently manage their entire 69,300 unit portfolio and rank as the 13th largest apartment management company. With a focus on creating communities, Related Companies owns and operates numerous luxury lifestyle brands primarily focused in the fitness and restaurant industries. Jeff Blau has led the New York city based company as CEO since 2012.
About Edward Rose Building Enterprise
The 6th company on our list of the 10 largest apartment owners, Edward Rose Building Enterprises is unique because they handle the entire multifamily development process. This includes land acquisition, construction, and management. Their portfolio includes both market rate and senior housing units. Warren Rose is the current CEO for the Bloomfield Hills, MI based company.
About Greystar Real Estate Partners
While Greystar Real Estate Partners is the 7th largest apartment owner, they are better known for being the largest apartment management in the United States. They actually manage 451,180 apartments, good for more than 7 times as many apartments as they 62,045 they own. Greystar Real Estate Partners is a privately held company based in Charleston, SC. The current CEO is Robert Faith.
About The Irvine Company
The Irvine Company has one of the smallest multifamily footprints, in terms of geographic size, of any company on this list. In fact, they only have apartment properties in 5 states – California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii. While they lack a huge geographic footprint, their 60,592 units is good for the 7th largest apartment owner in the country. They are based in Newport Beach, CA and the current CEO is Jim Krohn.
About Hunt Companies
Located in El Paso, TX, Hunt Companies has the largest portfolio of military housing units of any company on this list. In fact, vver 85% of their 60,217 units are dedicated to serving the needs of active duty military members and their families. Chris Hunt has been the CEO since 2015.
About Essex Property Trust
A publicly traded REIT, the 10th largest apartment owner in the United States, Essex Property Trust rounds out our list of the largest apartment owners. Their portfolio of 60,200 units is primarily focused on the west coast and also includes 1 Class A office building. Similar to The Irvine Company, their apartment properties are only located in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii. Michael Schall leads the company from their San Mateo, CA headquarters.
*Data sources for this article include the National Multifamily Housing Council, the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, and Wikipedia.
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2022-09-14T10:52:41-04:00May 28, 2019|
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