WASHINGTON D.C. — Mountain Real Estate Capital (MREC) announces the closing of a new investment platform with Lansdowne Development Group. The new joint venture intends to acquire and develop $50-100 million of residential land in the Virginia and Washington D.C. metropolitan areas.
The MREC-Lansdowne venture has acquired two projects to date. In May 2013, it acquired Shenandoah, a 1,850-unit lakefront community located on Lake Fredrick in Winchester, Va. The community will target both active adult and market rate home buyers featuring premier homebuilders such as Shea Homes and NVR. MREC has previously partnered with Shea Homes on Trilogy communities and was instrumental in bringing Shea into this development.
In June 2013, the venture closed on the acquisition of Leesburg Crossing, a 40-acre infill site located in the town of Leesburg, Va. Lansdowne is working with the town of Leesburg on a new development plan that will include several hundred townhomes.
Chris Bornemann and Joel Kaul of MREC completed this transaction for MREC. Kaul, managing director, states, “This joint venture continues our investment strategy of providing capital to best-in-class operating partners in select national residential markets. We have known the principals at Lansdowne for several years and feel fortunate to be working with such an experienced team. Hobie Mitchel is well known for his ability to entitle and develop large master plan communities in the D.C. area. The Lansdowne team also has strong working relationships with builders in the D. C. area and we intend to supply lots to builders and fill a current void in the market. ”
Hobie Mitchel, CEO of Lansdowne, states, “We are extremely excited to be working with MREC on the Shenandoah and Leesburg projects and look forward to building our platform with them. MREC has been a pleasure to work with, as their principals understand the complexities, challenges and opportunities inherent in residential and commercial development. We are already underwriting several additional opportunities for our joint venture that we intend to acquire in the coming months. It was critical for Lansdowne to align ourselves with a strong and flexible capital partner and this platform with MREC allows us to take advantage of the housing market recovery in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area.”
Over the past three years, MREC has completed similar investments with private homebuilders and developers desiring to recapitalize and grow their portfolios in states such as Florida, Colorado, California, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. All told, MREC has closed deals in 16 states and has 14 best-in-class operating partners like Lansdowne around the country.