Inside Bonaventure’s long-term ownership strategy

This story was originally published on Multifamily Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Multifamily Dive newsletter .

Amid market turmoil, Bonaventure has continued to expand.

In the past two years, the Alexandria, Virginia-based multifamily owner-operator has broken ground on three developments totaling 928 units, representing $246.2 million in total project costs. Further, it has closed on eight acquisitions totaling 1,518 units and approximately $354 million in transaction value.

Bonaventure, which has spent decades investing in supply-constrained markets across the mid-Atlantic and Southeast, now owns 9,192 units and has $2.9 billion in assets under management. But the firm isn't focused on expanding at all costs.

"We don't want to just grow to grow," Bonaventure CFO Stephen Burch told Multifamily Dive. "It's got to be growth on our terms."

Recently, Bonaventure acquired an ownership interest in Crescent at Chevy Chase, a 111-unit property in Chevy Chase, Maryland, according to a press release. It added the asset through the Bonaventure Multifamily Income Trust, a non-traded real estate investment trust that it sponsors.

"We aren't trying to swing outside our strike zone," Burch said. "We're not trying to do things that we don't have a really high conviction on."

Bonaventure focuses on developing three to four projects a year using HUD loans, which can provide long-term, fixed-rate financing for multifamily properties.

On Aug. 26, Bonaventure announced that it had broken ground on Attain at Swift Creek, a 344-unit class A property in Chesterfield County, Virginia, according to a press release. The $93.3 million project is financed through a $79.9 million, 40-year, fixed-rate HUD Section 221(d)(4) loan originated by Walker & Dunlop.

While many developers have traditionally wanted to build and sell properties relatively quickly, or only own a property for a limited time, Bonaventure has a different horizon. "We love being long-term owners of real estate and long-term wealth creation in multifamily," Burch said. "So that's really what we're using HUD for."

While raising equity can still be challenging, Burch said the environment is improving. "The bottom line is equity fundraising is definitely not as good as it was in maybe 2022 or 2023, but it's better than it was last year," Burch said.

Here, Burch talks with Multifamily Dive about investor interest in apartments, property pricing and how the firm uses artificial intelligence to find deals.