Starwood buys two multifamily properties

Starwood Capital Group has bought two residential properties, totaling 788 units, for $40.7 million.

The Greenwich, Connecticut-based firm said in a statement that it acquired the two apartment complexes in Cary, North Carolina from Equity Residential, the listed residential investment firm.

Starwood’s acquisition was made in partnership with Somerset Partners, a private investment firm with commercial and multifamily property investments throughout the US.

The two complexes, called Woodbridge and Hidden Oaks, are located across the street from each other and were acquired through the Starwood Opportunity Fund VIII.

Fund VIII is targeting $1.5 billion of equity for all major property types and is believed to have raised at least $1 billion of commitments to date, according to PERE sources.

Starwood has been actively buying US real estate through its opportunity funds and its mortgage REIT in the past year. Earlier this month, the firm’s mortgage REIT, Starwood Property Trust, acquired a $503 million loan book from Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America comprising 20 performing commercial mortgages and B notes for approximately $512 million. In January, the REIT also acquired three first mortgage loans for $107.8 million and invested $32 million in a single-borrower CMBS issuance.