QInvest, a leading investment bank in Qatar, said it has acquired a key plot of land on South Boulevard in Charlotte, North Carolina, US, to develop an upscale 200-unit, multifamily apartment complex covering 165,000 sq ft, in conjunction with a GCC investor.  

The necessary regulatory approvals have been received and the project is already well underway, with completion expected in August next year, said a statement from the Qatari bank.

This acquisition represents the first in a series of investments planned by QInvest into the fast-growing US multifamily residential space, it stated.

QInvest is structuring an investment solution to cater for demand from investors looking to gain exposure to the sector in the US market, it added.

On the acquisition, CEO Tamim Hamad Al Kawari said: "We are excited to be investing in this project. The city of Charlotte has excellent investment fundamentals and we expect this development to yield highly attractive risk-adjusted returns."

"This investment also represents an important milestone for QInvest as we look to expand our presence in the multifamily real estate market. The sector is performing strongly and we anticipate making additional investments in similar transactions in the near future as we continue to optimize our real estate portfolio and maximize value for our shareholders and clients," he added.

Craig Cowie, the head of real estate at QInvest, said the US multifamily real estate market is experiencing its seventh consecutive year of strong fundamentals.

"Since 2006, there has been a marked decline in home ownership in the US and cyclical and structural trends have led to an ever-growing demand for multifamily space. In the last five years, the number of individuals renting property has increased by 5 million whilst the number of homeowners has fallen by 900,000," noted Cowie.

"The long-term growth prospects for the multifamily sector are therefore very promising, and we expect the market will remain undersupplied as a growing domestic population continues to fuel demand," he added.

QInvest said it is working with market leading partners to deliver this project. The local partner and developer, Bainbridge Companies, is a best-in-class developer of multifamily properties on the east coast of the US.-TradeArabia News Service