Henley USA expands into 'Inland Empire' market

BOSTON, Jan. 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Henley Tower 16, the joint venture between Henley and Tower 16 Capital Partners, has acquired Hillside Village, a multi-family community in California's "Inland Empire" San Bernardino Valley. The acquisition brings Henley Tower 16's portfolio to just under $200 million of assets.

The off-market transaction marks the first acquisition by the partnership in the area and Henley USA's first in the Inland Empire market. The 80-unit property is located in San Bernardino immediately east of Los Angeles and Orange County—an area forecasted to experience an average of 3 percent rent growth over the next several years.

Henley Tower 16 has a strong track record in identifying investment opportunities in high-demand areas and repositioning the assets through interior and exterior renovations. The partnership made four acquisitions in the multi-family space last year in Las Vegas with the first two projects—Winsome West and Foothill Village—showing material rental rate increases for renovated units after just six and three months of operations, respectively.

A comprehensive renovation plan for Hillside Village will commence in January 2019, with post-renovation rents forecasted to be 10 per cent higher than pre-renovated unit rents.

Ian Rickwood, Chief Executive Officer of Henley commented: "The Inland Empire area of California matches our strategy of identifying key US growth markets, while Hillside Village's potential matches our focus on prime value-add residential properties in high demand areas where we can build substantial returns through managed renovations. We have already seen significant returns on our investment to date over only a short period, which we plan to replicate here with our now established partners."

Hillside Village is located less than one mile from California State University San Bernardino, a public university with over 20,000 students and comprises of a mix of one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. The units feature central air conditioning, individually metered electric and interior units with private balconies or patios. Community amenities include swimming pools, fitness center, business center, covered parking, BBQ area, laundry facilities and storage space.

Garrett Solomon, Managing Director, Chief Investment Officer of Henley North America, added, "We are excited to expand our successful acquisition strategy across the Southwest and into the Inland Empire. The population of San Bernardino continues to grow due to the area's affordability and strong job prospects.  There is a real opportunity here as the rental market is tight and there is limited to no new supply in the pipeline."

Notes to Editor:

Henley

Established in 2006, Henley is a leading UK private equity real estate investor focusing on development, investment and asset management in the commercial, residential, healthcare, land infrastructure, debt, and other alternative real estate assets. Since inception, Henley has approximately doubled in size every year. The company currently has around $2 billion in assets under management.

With offices in Boston, Massachusetts; Newport Beach, California, and Naples, Florida, Henley USA is headed by Garrett Solomon, who previously founded the award-winning, nationally recognized residential land development and management company, Corbelis. Prior to forming Corbelis in 2012, Solomon spent almost two decades with a series of well-known real estate private equity firms.

SOURCE Henley USA