Ballast

A rare piece of San Francisco’s residential history has changed hands. 🤝 Ballast has acquired the Three Sisters, a trophy portfolio of apartment properties in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights neighborhood, for $48.5 million. Built in 1928, the assets contain 110 residences within three historic buildings along the Van Ness corridor within the city's prestigious Pacific Heights neighborhood. 🏛️ The collection, which includes the former #Spreckels mansion, combines architectural character, premier location, and enduring relevance in one of the city’s most coveted neighborhoods. 🙌 Congratulations to Mari Yamato and the entire #BallastMF acquisitions team on making this deal happen, and a huge thank you to Coldwell Banker Commercial's Daniel McGue, who brought the assets to market for the sellers. 🌉 San Francisco #multifamily continues to gain momentum, and Pacific Heights remains one of its tightest residential pockets. Ballast continues to evaluate opportunities across the city, along with #manufacturedhousing investments in supply-constrained, high-growth markets nationwide. For multifamily investment opportunities, contact Mari Yamato. For manufactured housing opportunities, contact Pace Barker. #SFCRE #SFMF #PacificHeights #CRE #SanFranciscoMF

Property management has always been a core part of #multifamily performance. What has changed is how clearly that shows up in today’s environment. This Connect CRE story gets at something important: operations affect far more than the day-to-day running of a property. They influence expenses, resident retention, compliance, reporting and, ultimately, how well an asset performs. That's especially relevant in a market with tighter margins, higher costs and greater institutional scrutiny. The quality of the operating platform can have a real effect on outcomes. Our CEO, Greg MacDonald, says in the story that apartment management is “the operating system of the investment.” That feels exactly right. Operations aren't separate from the investment story; they're one of the main ways the strategy gets carried out in practice. Worth a read. https://hubs.la/Q0486tjm0 #PropertyManagement #AssetManagement #RealEstateOperations #BallastMF

Two years ago, we partnered with Brookfield to acquire a 75-building San Francisco multifamily portfolio.  📈 Since then, the focus has been on steady operational improvements: increasing service levels, smarter leasing, and thoughtful investing across building systems and within units.  Critically, during this hold period, the broader San Francisco apartment market has greatly strengthened, improving citywide fundamentals. The confluence of these two positive trends increased occupancy from 68% at acquisition to over 96% today, and improved collections from roughly 70% to nearly 99% today.  Importantly, the Ballast team has also eliminated all leasing concessions.  The recent refinancing, covered by #CoStar, is a constructive step for the portfolio and a positive signal for San Francisco #multifamily. #cre #SanFranciscoCRE #BallastMF #refinance

Ballast, together with an undisclosed #institutional partner, has acquired Higdon Oaks, a newly developed residential community in San Antonio, marking the firm’s entry into the Texas market.📍 Situated on nearly 100 acres in Southeast San Antonio, Higdon Oaks is a gated, all-ages manufactured housing community planned for up to 447 home sites and features an amenity package typically associated with master-planned developments, including a clubhouse, resort-style pool, fitness center, event space, sports courts, dog park, and 24/7 security. Ballast is working alongside the developer, Live Lone Star, to complete lease-up of the remaining sites over time. The acquisition comes at a time when housing demand in San Antonio continues to outpace available supply. Though the metro ranks among the top 10 U.S. cities for manufactured housing units, manufactured homes account for less than 2% of total housing stock — underscoring the supply imbalance.⚖️ A big thank you to Pace Barker and the entire Ballast team for executing on this transaction, and to Zach Koucos with JLL Capital Markets for arranging financing through Ascent Developer Solutions. This acquisition brings Ballast’s manufactured housing portfolio to approximately 1,000 home sites nationwide and reflects the firm’s continued focus on expanding its national residential platform in supply-constrained, high-growth markets. 📈 Ballast continues to evaluate new #manufacturedhousing opportunities across the U.S., as well as #multifamily investments in select California markets. For manufactured housing opportunities, please contact Pace Barker. For multifamily investment opportunities, please contact Mari Yamato. #CommercialRealEstate #ManufacturedHousing #CRE #BallastMF #BallastMH

Ballast, together with an undisclosed #institutional partner, has acquired Serene Terrace, a 55-plus manufactured housing community in the Seattle metropolitan area. Acquired from Three Pillar Communities, the property is approximately 90% occupied, with value-add plans focused on targeted capital improvements, amenity and infrastructure enhancements, and lease-up activity, including activating vacant sites with newly installed manufactured homes. A big thank you to Pace Barker and the entire Ballast manufactured housing team for bringing these deals across the finish line. And a huge shout out to JLL Capital Markets' Zach Koucos for arranging financing from Aegon USA Realty Advisors, LLC for the acquisition. This acquisition reflects Ballast’s continued focus on middle-market #residential investments, where hands-on operations and long-term thinking can make a meaningful impact. We’re excited about what’s ahead and remain actively engaged in evaluating manufactured housing and #multifamily opportunities in supply-constrained markets across the western U.S. For inquiries related to manufactured housing, please contact Pace Barker. For multifamily investment opportunities, please contact Mari Yamato. #CommercialRealEstate #ManufacturedHousing #CRE #BallastMF #BallastMH

Technology is reshaping property and asset management — and that shift was front and center at this year’s Connect Apartments Conference. Our CEO Greg MacDonald joined execs from Palantir Technologies and fellow industry leaders for a conversation on how connected data is improving visibility, decision-making, and day-to-day operations across multifamily portfolios. The clip below offers a quick look at the discussion, including why Ballast values partners who can work within an existing tech stack, rather than uprooting and replacing it altogether. Many thanks to Connect CRE for hosting, and to fellow panelists Jake Herczeg, John Kottlowski, and Michael Zullo for sharing such valuable perspectives. https://hubs.la/Q03WJ3tx0 More to come as we continue exploring how data and AI elevate the resident experience. #DataDriven #PropTech #Multifamily #RealEstateLeadership #BallastMF #PalantirTechnologies #connectcre #connectevents

This time of year always reminds us how much there is to appreciate: the team that shows up every day, the partners who trust us, and the communities we’re proud to serve. Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving, from all of us at #Ballast.

📢 We’re excited to share Ballast’s refreshed brand and new website—an update that reflects how much the firm has grown over the past decade. Ballast today is an integrated real estate platform with investment, management, and construction working together across 7,700+ units. The new brand brings that full picture forward and gives Brick+Timber and Halyard a clearer place in the story. It also highlights the operational engine behind our work: the AI-driven platform we built with Palantir Technologies. Bringing real-time data into leasing, maintenance, asset management, and construction has been a big part of how we’ve strengthened performance and scaled the portfolio. With Fund I underway, a growing manufactured housing platform, and long-standing institutional partnerships, this felt like the right moment to bring everything under a cohesive identity. And a quick shoutout to Meng Lee and the Connect CRE Creative team for their guidance, to Sandrine Albouy for leading design, and to Patrick Mahoney for development support. Collaboration at its finest! The new site captures it all - Check it out! https://hubs.la/Q03VjmBT0

Multifamily continues to evolve quickly, and thoughtful data matters more than ever. 📢 Ballast is pleased to share that our CEO, Greg MacDonald, has been recognized as a Power Player in the latest Multifamily Market Index by The Real Deal and Amazon Key. Greg's perspective as an active operator in one of the country’s most complex markets helped shape this edition’s analysis of rent trends, capital flows, and market balance. 📊 Proud to contribute to a clearer, more grounded understanding of where the #multifamily market is heading. ↗️ #SanFranciscoMF #MultifamilyMarketIndex #TRD #BallastMF #MFMetrics

Ballast has added another key asset to our San Francisco portfolio with the acquisition of Grosvenor Court Apartments in Pacific Heights. ✨ This property represents exactly the kind of long-term opportunity we prioritize across the Bay Area: an irreplaceable location, strong fundamentals, and room for meaningful operational improvements. San Francisco’s #multifamily market continues to regain its footing, with steady demand and renewed economic momentum supporting growth across the city’s core neighborhoods. We remain committed to investing in the places that reflect the city’s resilience and long-term vitality. 🏙️ Special thanks to Stephen Pugh, Andrew Black, and Michael Johnston at Engel & Völkers San Francisco, Pacific West Advisory Group, for helping bring this transaction across the finish line! 🙌 Greg MacDonald Ryan Brewer Meng Lee Mari Yamato Sheena Trincia (Anagnostopoulos) #sanfranciscoapts #cre #multifamilyinvestment #BallastMF