US: Nuveen Real Estate will invest up to $400 million through Sparrow, a newly launched vertically-integrated single-family home rental platform.
Nuveen’s investment provides capital for Sparrow to expand its single-family home rental platform as well as grow its portfolio of single-family homes. Sparrow and Nuveen will invest in high-growth markets across the Sun Belt states that demonstrate attractive economic and demographic drivers. The platform will start with targeted cities within Texas, Florida and Arizona.
“Our investment in Sparrow allows us to efficiently scale with a best-in-class team in a sector where we have tremendous conviction,” said Michael Hunter, global head of alternatives and strategic transactions at Nuveen Real Estate. “We believe the fundamental shift in demographics and lifestyles which underpin demand for single-family rentals is just starting to emerge.”
Arizona-based Sparrow was founded by partners Patrick Whelan and Jami Schulman, who have been involved in the origination, acquisition, development and asset management of single-family rentals valued in excess of $2 billion since 2012.
“We are excited to add single-family rentals to our suite of investment capabilities,” said Wendy Pryce, managing director of product at Nuveen Real Estate. “This is a key step in expanding Nuveen’s housing strategy.”
Patrick Whelan, CEO of Sparrow, said: “Nuveen entering the single-family home rental community further speaks to the long- term strength and viability of a sector we have long believed in. We are excited that Nuveen chose to invest in our platform and look forward to growing our partnership.”
RBC Capital Markets, LLC provided advisory services to the transaction.
