Though some industry watchers hope apartment starts increase in 2026, they don’t expect things to match the torrid pace of the early 2020s anytime soon.
“I think we'll be bumping along the bottom, unless we see rates fall significantly,” Chris Nebenzahl, vice president of rental research at Irvine, California-based John Burns Research and Consulting, told Multifamily Dive.
Even as starts continue to bottom out, land is being traded. In January, MAA closed on a land parcel located in the Northern Virginia market through its pre-purchase development program and plans to build a 287-unit property starting in the second half of 2026, according to its Q4 2025 earnings report.
“We continue to grow our development pipeline by leveraging our strong balance sheet and development capabilities to invest early to take advantage of growth opportunities at a time when access to capital is more limited for others,” MAA CEO Brad Hill said on the REIT’s earnings call in March.
While it may be true that large REITs have superior access to capital, their private competitors are also getting land deals across the finish line, even in this equity-constrained environment.
Here are five land transactions apartment pros might have missed so far this year.
Alliance buys in Atlanta
On March 3, Alliance Residential Co. announced that it closed on 3.65 acres of land in Atlanta for the development of Broadstone Lola, a 300-unit class A luxury apartment community, according to a press release shared with Multifamily Dive.
Broadstone Lola, designed by Brock Hudgins Architects, is expected to welcome new residents in the summer of 2027. The project will offer floor plans ranging from 600-square-foot junior one-bedroom units to 1,100-square-foot two-bedroom units.
The development will be located within the Vinings/Smyrna submarket, near The Battery Atlanta, Truist Park and the Cumberland Galleria district. The surrounding area offers a walkable mix of national retailers, restaurants and everyday conveniences.
The Scottsdale, Arizona-based developer purchased the parcel in an off-market transaction, Alliance Managing Director of the Georgia Region Carter Brehm told Multifamily Dive. “We had a relationship with the seller,” he said. “We just got aggressive on it because we really like the story with proximity to Battery, but also the access to every major job pocket here in Atlanta.”
Landmark buys student housing site
On March 2, Landmark Properties announced it acquired a 27-acre site in Oxford, Mississippi, where it plans to build The Station at Oxford, an 817-bed student housing development, according to a press release.
The cottage-style community, which will feature a mix of cottages and townhomes, will be the third development in partnership with Liberty Mutual Investments, a part of Liberty Mutual Group.
Landmark Construction will serve as the general contractor, with Niles Bolton Associates as the architect and JM Engineering as the structural engineer for the 269-unit property, featuring a mix of two- to four-bedroom units. Construction will begin immediately and is expected to be completed in time for the 2027-2028 academic year.
Dream Finders buys 20-acre parcel
On Feb. 5, Florida developer Mast Capital, along with Amzak Capital Management, announced the sale of a 20-acre land parcel adjacent to the 480-acre Saddlebrook Resort property in Tampa’s Wesley Chapel to Dream Finders Homes for $8.5 million, according to a press release shared with Multifamily Dive.
Mast and Amzak acquired Saddlebrook in 2022 and relaunched the resort property following a $92 million multiphase transformation. Dream Finders intends to develop the fully entitled site into 118 luxury townhomes and a one-acre commercial parcel intended for office and retail uses.
The townhome parcel was approved as part of a broader master plan that also includes a proposed town center at the entrance to Saddlebrook, featuring 465 luxury apartments, 25 townhomes and approximately 75,000 square feet of retail and office space.
Toro makes a Georgia acquisition
On Feb. 4, Toro Development Co. closed on land for Overlook, a 301-unit multifamily development within Cumming City Center in Cumming, Georgia, according to a press release shared with Multifamily Dive.
The Alpharetta, Georgia-based firm will begin breaking ground on the property this month, with the first properties scheduled for delivery in fall 2027. Pinnacle Financial Partners provided the loan for the project, while EBSCO Real Estate, based in Birmingham, Alabama, is the sole equity partner.
TDC will incorporate Overlook into Cumming City Center’s existing mixed-use environment, which includes shops, restaurants, green space, walking trails, an amphitheater for events and a new municipal building.
Embrey snags 6 acres in Tennessee
On Jan. 20, Embrey announced the closing of 6 acres of land for Phases
II and III of Aureum, a multifamily development located within SouthStar’s 22-acre Aureum mixed-use master plan in Franklin, Tennessee, according to a press release.
Phases II and III are slated to deliver a combined 604 apartments across two separate 3-acre sites situated near the intersection of Carothers Parkway and East McEwen Drive, adjacent to Interstate 65. Embrey’s Phase I development, Thatcher at Aureum, began construction in late 2025.
Aureum will be Embrey’s fifth and sixth multifamily developments in Franklin and its 13th and 14th projects in Tennessee since entering the state in 1987. It's the San Antonio-based developer’s fifth project partnership with SouthStar.
Click here to sign up to receive multifamily and apartment news like this article in your inbox every weekday.
