Ramin Kamfar, chairman and CEO of Bluerock Residential Growth REIT, Inc. (NYSE: BRG), joined REIT.com for a CEO Spotlight video interview at REITWorld 2015: NAREIT’s Annual Convention for All Things REIT at the Wynn Las Vegas.
Bluerock acquires institutional-quality apartment properties in growth markets across the United States.
Kamfar noted that Bluerock has made about $750 million of acquisitions this year and is expecting to match or even increase that pace in 2016. “We’re seeing a lot of attractive and accretive opportunities in our markets,” he said.
Kamfar stressed the company will continue to focus on urban areas, given the millennial generation’s continued attraction toward this segment of the market. “Millennials are changing the nature of renting in the same way that the baby boomers created the suburbs and exurbs,” Kamfar observed.
Meanwhile, Kamfar reiterated that the company’s core strategy is to be in primary U.S. markets, other than the big six gateway cities, that have strong employment growth. Kamfar noted that employment growth is 80 percent correlated with apartment demand.
In Bluerock’s prime markets located in the Southeastern U.S. through to Texas, “we’re seeing a very strong outlook in terms of occupancy and rental growth, which is why we are there,” Kamfar said.