Bahrain-based GFH Financial Group has acquired a luxury high-rise building in Baltimore in a joint venture with Broadshore Capital Partners (Broadshore), which is owned by Fortune 500 company Guardian Life.

GFH said its funds under management now exceed $13 billion, with a major focus on the US market.

The building in Baltimore is the company’s third multifamily residential acquisition, acquired for an estimated $90 million.

Razi Al Murbati, CEO at GFH Capital, said: “We are aiming to acquire a diverse set of residential properties across the US which will vary in terms of location, size, and local demographics to generate stable cash flows.

“Our ambitious but calculated real estate strategy favours resilience and is focused on delivering growth and value creation for stakeholders.”

The 17-storey property was acquired in a Sharia-compliant joint venture with Broadshore, owned by Guardian Life, which has more than $71 billion of assets under management.

“The US multifamily residential property sector is a significant opportunity for GFH and our investors. The segment demonstrated clear resilience during the pandemic compared to most other parts of the real estate market which experienced a decline,” said Murbati.

“Investment in the multifamily space remained resilient during COVID because of the defensive nature of the sector.”

GFH said more than $140 billion of capital was deployed in the multifamily sector during 2020, and the market experienced a turning point in March 2021, with multifamily rents rising 0.6 percent year-on-year.

“Multifamily properties are particularly popular in certain parts of the US and GFH’s real estate strategy aims to capitalise on the trend,” the company said in a statement to Dubai Financial Market (DFM). 

The company said there was increasing demand for suburban living as the preference for larger living spaces, property amenities, outdoor space are becoming priorities for renters, which has been further accelerated due to COVID-19.

Assets are located in Sun Belt states, across the southern and southwestern portions of the country, as the US has been witnessing a migratory shift to these states for several years, the statement concluded.

(Reporting by Imogen Lillywhite; editing by Daniel Luiz)

imogen.lillywhite@refinitiv.com 

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