LCOR Inc. and the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) have nearly tripled their equity investment in a multifamily joint venture to $287.5 million and plan to leverage that amount to approximately $1 billion in acquisitions and developments.
CalSTRS and Berwyn, Pa.-based LCOR, a real estate development, investment and management company, created their joint venture — LCOR Residential Associates LLC — with $100 million in joint equity in 2005. The fund’s mission was to acquire and develop multifamily assets, primarily on the East Coast. Those projects may include condo conversions.
In June of that year, the venture purchased a site in New York City where LCOR is now developing The Charleston, a 191-unit, 21-story high-rise condominium in Murray Hill. In December, LCOR Residential closed on the acquisition of Ravens Crest, a 444-unit garden apartment community in Manassas, Va., approximately 22 miles west of downtown Washington, D.C.
In announcing the increased equity in LCOR Residential this month, LCOR also announced that it has closed funding for the first phase of North Bethesda Center, a mixed-use commercial and residential development under construction on 32 acres next to the White Flint Metrorail station in North Bethesda, Md. LCOR Residential provided the $110 million funding required for that first phase of the project, which includes an 18-story, 312-unit rental apartment project and a 65,200 sq. ft. grocery store.
LCOR is the master developer of the town-center style project, which ultimately could include more than 1 million sq. ft. of offices, 202,000 sq. ft. of street-level retail, and 1,250 multifamily units.
LCOR specializes in the development of mixed-use, multifamily and office properties, including transit-oriented development. LCOR has approximately $8 billion in developments completed, under construction or in pre-development, and has developed more than 20,000 residential units and 16 million sq. ft. of commercial space nationally.