Trei Real Estate GmbH (Trei), a property developer and property asset holder for residential and retail real estate, is developing its second residential project in the United States. The de-velopment is located in Mount Pleasant, a suburb of Charleston in the state of South Carolina. It will include 224 rental apartments in three buildings of four stories each. The apartments will include 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom floorplans and the community will total approximately 19,300 square meters of residential floor area. The investment volume totals approximately 49 million euros. Construction work started on the 13th of January 2020. The completion is scheduled for early 2022.
Pepijn Morshuis, CEO of Trei Real Estate, commented: “Following our successful entry into residential real estate development in the United States with our first project in Charlotte, NC in late 2018, we are consistently implementing our residential real estate strategy with a second project in Charleston now. Our strategy for the US is to sell some of the properties that we develop stateside, however, the location of our project in Charleston—given its proximity to the ocean—is so unique that we likely will keep it in our portfolio upon completion.”
Local partner on the ground is Middle Street Partners, an investment and property development company with focus on high-quality multi-unit dwellings in the south-eastern United States. Since its formation in 2009, Middle Street Partners has been responsible for a development and transaction volume of roughly one billion US dollars in the multi-family segment. The volume represents a total of 9,500 residential units.
Managing Director of Trei’s US team Chris Helsabeck, said: “We are very pleased to be partnering with a local and experienced company like Middle Street Partners and we look forward to working together on other opportunities in the region.”
The property development in Mount Pleasant will feature a saltwater swimming pool, dog grooming station, dog park, walking trails, and fitness center. A special highlight is the unobstructed view that the apartments and amenities will have of the adjacent marshlands and the short distance to the ocean, which is easily reached by bicycle. The spacious green areas between the buildings will have park-like landscaping featuring many mature live oak trees which will be preserved.
Mount Pleasant is located on the Atlantic Coast and part of the Charleston metro region. Downtown Charleston is a car ride of about 10 minutes away from the site. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the metro region has a population of 787,643 residents. The population of the region is growing four times faster than the national average, and in Mount Pleasant alone increased by 24 percent between 2012 and 2016. The unemployment rate of Charleston was just 1.8 percent in November 2019, lower even than the US average of 3.3 percent. This is due not least to the expanding presence of international companies such as Boeing, Volvo and Daimler, which maintain significant operations here.
