Multifamily specialists · Since 2011
What are you being paid for the risk you hold?
Blacklion buys newly built Class A apartment communities for less than they cost to build, holds them through the supply trough, and sells when institutional capital returns.
23%
Realized net IRR across 29 full-cycle investments*
~9,500
Units acquired or recapitalized across two cycles
2018
Became a net seller, ahead of the 2022 peak
40+
Acquisitions by the core management team
*Realized, net of fees and carried interest, across 29 full-cycle transactions, primarily value-add, 2011–2022. Not a projection for the late-cycle strategy. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Our history
A disciplined cycle, by design.
We became net sellers in late 2018, years before rising rates exposed aggressive underwriting and short-term floating-rate debt, and broke the capital structures of many multifamily owners. We came through the last cycle without legacy issues, and used that position to step in where others could no longer carry their assets.
Why now
Multifamily has already taken its loss.
Supply is falling faster than prices. That gap is the window.
−52%
U.S. apartment deliveries, 2024 peak to the 2027 trough
Yardi Matrix, Feb 2026
≈ −19%
Apartment values below the 2022 peak, while equities trade near records
Green Street CPPI, Jun 2026
≈ 90 bps
Institutions below their real estate allocation targets
Hodes Weill & Cornell, 2025
U.S. multifamily completions, thousands of units
The 2027 trough is less than half the 2024 peak.
Source: Yardi Matrix, Feb 2026. Estimates are third-party forecasts, not guarantees.
The strategy
Buy the reset. Own the burn-off. Sell to core capital.
We focus on acquiring institutional-quality, late-cycle multifamily product (2022–2026 deliveries) in markets benefiting from long-term secular trends, including technology and demographics. We believe the balance of 2026 through 2027 will allow capital to be deployed ahead of the herd. We seek value-add to opportunistic returns from newly built assets with core-like characteristics: well-located, stabilized Class A, free of renovation or lease-up risk.
Value at entry. Growth in the hold. Alpha at exit.
01
Buy the reset
Newly built Class A communities, typically 25–35% below replacement cost on our recent underwriting (basis varies by deal), from motivated sellers and lenders. A developer is unlikely to build competing product for what we pay.
02
Own the burn-off
Assets about 95% occupied but held down by concessions. As concessions clear over 12–24 months, the same rent roll earns more, with no renovation program.
03
Sell to core capital
A target three-year exit when institutions return to bid for stabilized, growing income. Our exit is triggered by evidence, not hope.
Guardrails, in writing: leverage of 50–60%, never above 65%; fixed or capped debt; exit cap rates underwritten at or above today’s; a five-year hold as the fallback.
Why Blacklion
Boutique by design. Institutional by experience.
We are a deliberately focused firm. Our senior principals drive every investment decision and make the final call, through an investment committee that draws on every discipline in the firm. They stay close to every asset. Behind them are decades of institutional experience: more than 40 acquisitions and a team whose careers span over 100,000 apartment units. Formidable, yet nimble.
Our capital alongside yours
We co-invest in each of our investments, typically 5% to 20% of the equity. We do well only when our partners do.
Multifamily is all we do
Investing in, owning and operating multifamily is our only business. That concentrated focus gives us clear objectives and deep expertise, with no competing priorities.
Research before conviction
We underwrite with proprietary market research and analytics, testing every opportunity against market dynamics, the asset’s characteristics and what our partners need from it. We pass on far more opportunities than we pursue. Today we are evaluating, underwriting or offering on more than $1 billion of opportunities across our target markets, a pipeline we review and update regularly.
One platform, through the cycle
Our platform covers acquisitions, financing, asset management and exit. The same team and the same process carry each investment from start to finish, so our partners get consistency when markets turn.
Every asset gets our best
We operate ownership-blind: every property gets the same attention, whatever our share of it. Operational excellence is the standard across every investment and venture.
Our culture
Responsibility, integrity and alignment of interests define our culture. Our goal is simple: find and execute the investments we believe offer the best risk-adjusted returns.
For investors
You see the asset before you commit.
We invest deal by deal. Each acquisition is offered on its own, through its own vehicle, so you choose every asset you own and see it before you commit.
Leadership
25 years as partners.
Strong leadership shapes our culture: an entrepreneurial mindset, held to disciplined, institutional process. Our founders lead an experienced team across the investment and asset management spectrum.
Timothy J. Young
Co-Founder & Senior Managing Director
40+ years across investment banking and real estate; more than $5 billion of property acquired, developed and financed.
James R. Gatlin
Co-Founder & Senior Managing Director
25+ years in multifamily; $2.75 billion of assets acquired, comprising 50,000 units.
The team
Our founders lead a team of investment, asset management and investor relations professionals, profiled on our About page.
Institutions our principals have transacted with, at Blacklion and prior firms
Fannie Mae · Freddie Mac · Wells Fargo · Citi · KeyBank · Bank OZK · PNC · CBRE · JLL · Walker & Dunlop · Berkadia · Newmark · Marcus & Millichap · Ackman-Ziff · Goldman Sachs · RBC · Ready Capital · LoanCore
Research
Our research, with every figure sourced.
Study · June 2026
The Permanence of Real Estate Value
Eight decades of U.S. real estate cycles: nine downturns, how long recovery took, and what it means for buying near a trough.
Read the study →
Article · October 2026
Five Reasons to Own Direct Real Estate, and Why Multifamily First
A quarter of the volatility of equities on an appraisal basis, income linked to prices, and a price that has already reset.
Read the article →
White paper · October 2026
Rebalancing Toward Real Assets
Equities now pay almost nothing over Treasuries. The case for reallocating toward income linked to prices.
Request a copy →
Investor presentation · Accredited investors
Late-Cycle Multifamily: The Full Strategy
Underwriting, return scenarios and sensitivities, available after accreditation is verified.
Request access →
Our markets
Based in Austin. Investing across the Sunbelt.
Austin is home: we have owned and operated multifamily here since 2011, and it anchors our research. Today we are actively evaluating, underwriting or offering on acquisitions in every market below, where jobs, population and household formation keep outpacing new supply. We also pursue select opportunities in secondary markets, where the fundamentals, the exit buyer pool and the pricing compensate for the added risk. We regularly evaluate portfolio acquisitions alongside single assets.
Headquarters
Austin & Central Texas
Our home market since 2011, including newly built Class A communities in Austin’s fast-growing northern suburbs.
Texas
Dallas–Fort Worth & Houston
Texas’s two largest metros: deep, diversified job bases, broad renter demand and the institutional buyer pool our exits depend on.
The Carolinas
Charlotte, the Research Triangle & Greenville
Newly built Class A product in three of the Southeast’s leading growth markets: Charlotte’s financial-services base, the Triangle’s university, research and healthcare employers, and Greenville’s advanced-manufacturing corridor.
Georgia
Atlanta
A deep, diversified renter base, and a supply wave that is now burning off.
Tennessee
Nashville
Sustained in-migration and job growth, with new starts down sharply from the peak.
Florida
Select Florida markets
Strong in-migration and household growth, pursued submarket by submarket, with insurance and supply risk underwritten deal by deal.
In 2024–2025 we recapitalized ~4,000 distressed units across Sunbelt markets.
Brokers, lenders and owners: see our acquisition criteria → · Austin in depth: our home market →
Contact
One well-bought asset at a time.
Offerings are open to verified accredited investors. Tell us about your allocation plans and investment objectives, and we’ll arrange a call with a principal.
Executive Office
JLL Plaza, 1703 West 5th Street
Austin, TX 78703
Headquarters & Operations
3215 Steck Avenue, Suite 203
Austin, TX 78757
Affiliate
Lion Rock Capital Partners, London
Contact
For information only. Not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. Any offering is made only through definitive offering documents to verified accredited investors. Investing involves risk, including loss of principal. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Forward-looking statements and targets are not guarantees. Named firms do not endorse Blacklion. Intended for U.S. residents only. Information is subject to change and revision without notice. See Acquisition criteria, Important Disclosures and Privacy Policy.
