Brookfield Bets on Single-Family Rentals With $300 Million Fund

(Bloomberg) -- Brookfield Asset Management Inc. is the latest Wall Street giant to plant its flag on Main Street lawns.

Brookfield recently acquired a controlling stake in single-family landlord Conrex, which operates more than 10,000 rental homes across the Midwest and Southeastern U.S., according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the transaction isn’t public.

In addition, Brookfield has raised $300 million, including some of its own capital, for a vehicle called Brookfield Single Family Rental that will acquire and renovate homes. The firm intends to leverage the Conrex platform for that effort, one of the people added.

A representative for Brookfield declined for comment. Conrex didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Wall Street discovered single-family rentals, once the domain of mom-and-pop landlords, in the aftermath of the U.S. foreclosure crisis, when firms like Blackstone Group Inc. and Starwood Property Trust Inc. spent billions buying up distressed assets.

Rent collections on single-family homes have held up during the pandemic, and large investors have continued to ink deals for the properties. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s asset-management more than doubled its investment in a joint venture to develop roughly 2,500 rental houses with landlord American Homes 4 Rent, according to a statement in May.

That same month, Koch Industries Inc.’s real estate arm invested $200 million in Amherst Holdings LLC’s single-family rental business.

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