Avila Real Estate Capital (AREC), a private real estate credit platform which finances land acquisition, development, and construction for builders and developers, has closed $390 million in new capital and co-investments. The latest capital raise comes from two institutions, a large insurance company and a major university endowment.
The new capital brings total commitments and co-investments for AREC to more than $750 million. The new capital providers join international institutional investors as well as builders D.R. Horton, LGI Homes, Century Communities, Toll Brothers, Dream Finders Homes, and DRB Group.
“Institutional investors and the country’s leading home builders are underwriting the same opportunity from different sides of the table,” said Tony Avila, founder and CEO of AREC. “The builders who have provided capital for our platform understand the need for our credit as their developers consistently need AREC’s type of capital to develop finished lots. The knowledge and operational capacity they bring to our platform give institutional partners more confidence.”
AREC focuses exclusively on financing land acquisition, horizontal development, construction, and finished lot delivery to builders in major growth markets across the country. The group is targeting financing for 100,000 lots in the next five years.
The latest capital raise follows shortly after AREC closed a $305 million credit facility with a master-planned community developer, funding construction and development for more than 3,000 lots in California.
“We see a dearth of vacant developed lots in a lot of markets. We see bank capital pulling back from providing loans into the sector,” Avila told BUILDER at the time of the $305 million credit facility’s closure. “For us, we want to provide capital to regional and local, private builders and developers that are so critical to the function of the American housing industry.”
In addition to the institutional investors, AREC has received investments from over 20 builders that AREC affiliate Builder Advisor Group (BAG) has sold, bringing further industry expertise, deal flow, and operational capacity to support future projects.
