Greystar Alum to Lead New Active Adult Division for Multifamily Firm Middle Street

Real estate developer and investor Middle Street Partners is making its first foray into the middle-market active adult market, with an industry veteran from Greystar heading up its plans.

The company on Wednesday announced the launch of a new active adult division meant to serve middle-income older adults. The company’s first project is already in early stages in South Carolina; with plans for more growth in the Southeast, Southwest and Mid-Atlantic.

Since its founding in 2009, Charleston, South Carolina-based Middle Street has sponsored more than $2 billion worth of investments in multifamily acquisitions and development.

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The company has hired former Greystar Real Estate Partners Managing Director Chris McGuffin to launch and lead the new endeavor. McGuffin is no stranger to the active adult sector, having spent the last eight years building Greystar’s Overture and middle-market Album brand portfolios.

“It was a good fit between my active adult experience and their construction and development expertise,” McGuffin told Senior Housing News.

At Middle Street, McGuffin plans to build a portfolio of middle-market active adult communities, primarily through new development. Once the division is up and running, he foresees the company opening about four to six new projects per year.

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Senior living investors have increasingly become interested in the active adult market in 2022, with 31% of respondents to a recent JLL survey identifying it as their most sought-after investment opportunity for the year ahead.

Still, while the active adult sector is red-hot with many new entrants seeking to get into the space, several trends give McGuffin and Middle Street confidence that it is one worth expanding in.

“It’s good timing from a demand perspective, and there are some barriers to entry on supply,” McGuffing said.” And capital markets are getting behind it and are understanding it more.”

McGuffin also believes that there is enough demand to go around for competitors to co-exist in many markets without contributing to oversupply conditions.

Middle Street’s first development project is already underway in Summerville, South Carolina, though the details are still coming together. The company is also actively pursuing new projects in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, Virginia and Texas. McGuffin also sees opportunities to undertake select acquisitions in the future.

In terms of how the communities will be managed, Middle Street will likely work with third-party companies while also handling certain marketing and sales functions in-house.

“Maybe at some point when it is scaled enough, we could internalize and create a management company,” McGuffin said. “But for now, we’re going to have expertise in-house, with … a combination of a third-party, active adult manager.”

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