Chris Czarnecki, president and CEO of Broadstone Real Estate, participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITworld: 2018 Annual Conference in San Francisco.
Broadstone sponsors Broadtree Residential, Inc., a private REIT, Broadstone Net Lease, Inc, a public non-listed REIT (PNLR), and Broadstone Real Estate Access Fund.
Czarnecki said that Broadstone recently launched the Broadstone Real Estate Access Fund because “our investors and clients spoke, and we listened.” He said that some of the company’s wealth management relationships were looking for a Broadstone-style product with a lower minimum, more liquidity, and more diversification that could be offered to a broader segment of their client bases.
“We did [an] internal study [and] had a development team work on some other product ideas, and really [saw great potential in] the interval fund space,” Czarnecki said.
Czarnecki said that Broadstone Net Lease reached $680 million in total acquisition volume in 2017, and he expects the pipeline to continue growing.
He also said that Broadtree Residential recently expanded its revolving line of credit to become more competitive in acquisitions, provide enhanced liquidity, and eventually position the company to be an unsecured borrower on the multifamily side.
“One of the things that we’ve learned in managing a few different REITs is [that] we want to have the same discipline that our public peers have. [We want to] have a lower leverage profile [and] a more unencumbered portfolio,” he added.