Slate Asset Management has turned to the Sun Belt after spending most of 2025 looking for profits outside the U.S.
The Chicago-based private investment firm agreed to pay $226.5M for a 1,600-unit portfolio of multifamily units across Florida, Georgia and Arizona. The roughly $142K-per-unit deal spanning six garden-style properties comes as the Sun Belt, a darling of pandemic-era investment, sees multifamily rent growth sputter amid a wave of deliveries pushing some capital into the Midwest.
Slate Asset Management is buying the six-property portfolio from Tampa-based ZMR Capital.
“We are pleased to announce our latest investment in the multifamily real estate sector — a performing portfolio of defensive assets with attractive fundamentals serving essential needs in markets with strong demographics,” Peter Tsoulogiannis, Slate’s chief investment officer, said in a statement.
Rents have been falling across Sun Belt markets since 2024 and are only now leveling off as key markets like Austin, Phoenix and Atlanta find renters for the thousands of new units that were recently built.
But multifamily development completions peaked in April, with just over 576,000 units coming online in the trailing 12 months. Some multifamily investors see a lack of postpandemic construction as a tailwind for the sector, and they sense that the high cost of capital and looming debt maturities mean there are discounted deals to be scooped up.
“We have strong conviction in the long-term demand for housing, and despite macro volatility, our investment philosophy remains unchanged; we continue to focus on acquiring below replacement cost with below market in-place rents in order to generate meaningful cash flow growth,” Tsoulogiannis said.
The portfolio acquisition, which is expected to close at the end of the month, includes properties around the Tampa, Atlanta and Phoenix markets. A spokesperson for Slate, which has roughly $11B in assets under management, declined to provide the addresses.
The seller is ZMR Capital, a Tampa, Florida-based real estate investment firm that will remain an operating partner in the portfolio after its disposition, the spokesperson said.
Slate, which has ten offices across the U.S., Canada and Europe, has an equity and credit platform investing in real estate and infrastructure.
Earlier this week, the firm acquired seven retail properties in Denmark from the private markets investment firm StepStone Group and European investment firm Nrep. Slate also disclosed in March that it had completed the acquisition of 45 grocery-anchored properties in Germany for more than €420M. In February, Slate paid $28M for an 18-unit apartment building in New York.
The multifamily properties it plans to acquire in the Sun Belt are located near grocers, and Slate plans to realize their full potential by bringing rents in line with prevailing market rates.
CORRECTION, JULY 8, 3 P.M. ET: Slate invests in assets across the risk spectrum and isn’t solely focused on value-add assets as previously indicated in this story. It also acquired the retail assets in Denmark from StepStone Group, who had been described as a partner in the purchase.