Topaz Capital Group Launches $120M Build-To-Rent Acquisition Platform Across Florida and Carolinas
Topaz Capital Group has launched Topaz BTR, a new investment platform targeting the acquisition of build-to-rent communities directly from developers across Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, the South Florida-based firm announced Sept. 4.
The platform is backed by approximately $120 million in programmatic joint venture equity, supported by warehouse financing and operating partnerships structured to accelerate execution. Marc A. Hershberg and J. Etan Friedman, managing partners of Topaz Capital Group, said the platform is intended to give developers a well-capitalized takeout partner with greater certainty of closing.
Platform Structure and Target Assets
Topaz BTR will focus on newly delivered, lease-up, near-stabilized, and stabilized communities generally containing between 125 and 250 homes. The platform will consider a range of transaction structures, including direct acquisitions, forward purchases, portfolio deals, select joint ventures, and recapitalizations.
The warehouse financing component is designed to speed deal execution, a feature Hershberg and Friedman highlighted as central to the platform's value proposition for developer counterparties.
Building on an Established BTR Track Record
The Topaz BTR launch formalizes and scales a build-to-rent strategy the firm has already been executing in Florida. Topaz previously acquired The Cypress at Wesley Park, a 72-home detached single-family rental community in Crawfordville, Florida, within the Tallahassee metropolitan area, sourced directly from national homebuilder D.R. Horton. The community was 96% leased at the time of acquisition, reflecting the near-stabilized profile the new platform intends to target.
That earlier transaction was characterized by Topaz as its first BTR deal in Florida and was part of a broader discretionary capital deployment effort targeting clusters and subdivisions of 80 to 180 homes across the state, with the ability to close in as little as 60 days. The Cypress at Wesley Park deal illustrates the developer-takeout positioning that underpins the Topaz BTR platform's strategy.
Broader Portfolio Context
Topaz Capital Group operates as a vertically integrated residential and industrial investment, development, lending, and asset management platform with a focus on high-growth markets across Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Its residential strategy spans multifamily, build-to-rent, single-family rental, townhome communities, and select fractured condominium opportunities.
The firm's multifamily portfolio has included assets such as The Park at Topaz Cay, a 197-unit property in Melbourne, Florida, and The Caroline, a 228-unit community located at 1906 Griffin Road in Lakeland, Florida. Topaz's multifamily portfolio surpassed $375 million and 2,500 units in Florida as the firm expanded its Southeast footprint.
Topaz typically underwrites five- to seven-year average hold periods, with the potential to extend to seven to ten years for assets supported by fixed-rate, long-term debt. The firm emphasizes conservative capital structures and active asset management across its residential holdings.
Market Positioning
The geographic focus — Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina — aligns with the firm's existing operational footprint across Sun Belt markets.
Sources
Topaz Capital Group — Topaz Launches $120M BTR Acquisition Platform