Greystar Real Estate Partners, the Charleston company that manages more apartments than any other in the country, is marking its 20th anniversary this month.
Bob Faith formed Greystar in 1993 by buying and combining a series of Texas-based apartment service companies, the company said in an announcement today. It was based in Houston until 1999, when it moved its headquarters to Charleston. Its offices are at 18 Broad St., according to a January contract filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“We are very proud of what we have accomplished in our first 20 years,” Faith, the company’s chairman and CEO, said in the announcement.
Greystar now has more than 5,000 employees, 20 corporate offices and a presence in more than 100 markets, the company said. The National Multi Housing Council, an apartment industry group, has ranked it the largest U.S. apartment manager for the past three years, according to the company. Greystar manages more than 200,000 apartment homes for more than 200 private and institutional owners.
The company has also been building apartments since 1997. It said it was named the largest apartment builder of 2012, with 5,360 units started, and that it closed on eight more planned projects totaling 2,271 units in the first half of this year. It has projects under way in 11 states, including South Carolina.
On the investment side, Greystar said it has made more than 145 acquisitions worth more than $5.5 billion since its founding, including $3.5 billion over the past three years. That figure includes a $1.5 billion portfolio of 27 apartment communities that Greystar and the real estate principal investment arm of Goldman, Sachs & Co. agreed in January to buy from Equity Residential.
On Aug. 6, Greystar held the first closing of its newest investment fund, Greystar Equity Partners VIII.
The company is celebrating with a series of private events at its corporate offices and at the 700 apartment communities it operates across the country.
