Managing Partners Brad and Michael Cooper with Blue River Development, along with CEO and Managing Partner Jason Joseph with Trilogy Investment Company, recently joined the IMN Spotlight Interview series with Rosie Bell to discuss their involvement in the build-to-rent (BTR) market.

Atlanta-based Blue River Development is a land and lot origination development company with approximately 6,000 lots across the Southeast. Blue River Development’s newly launched division, Blue River Communities, was created to serve the single-family BTR industry. 

Trilogy Investment Company is a fully integrated BTR owner-operated developer located in Alpharetta. Trilogy has just under 3,000 home lots across seven states in its portfolio, including lots in its recent partnership with Blue River Communities.

“As a new entrant over the last three years into the space, we were looking for a partner that understood land, site selection, the permitting process and already had relationships within the home building community and BTR sector,” said Joseph when asked how two companies started their collaboration. “Blue River’s culture and business properly aligned with us.”

Cooper mentions, “We’re excited about the new partnership! Blue River Communities was born out of our ‘here to serve’ mentality… understanding more intimately what matters most to the operator allows us to be more creative.”

With its recent expansion into Texas, Blue River Development and Trilogy Investment Company are working on their first Dallas project together – a 225-unit BTR townhome community that will begin lot delivery in the second quarter of 2024. 

“We’re excited for this project,” said Cooper. “Texas is a beautiful market! Dallas is one of the country's most supply constrained markets, and this is a part of Texas that had the growth.”

The duo is also working on a community in Huntsville, Alabama. Joseph states, “There are lots of builders in the Huntsville market and lots of supply coming in, but there is an unbelievable unmet demand for build-to-rent.”

Blue River Development takes a data-driven approach with operators to understand the acquisition criteria better and focus on projects that meet the operator’s needs and return on cost. “Ultimately, the ‘here to serve’ mentality allows us to continue to expand and grow where these operators need us to be.”

To hear the full interview, visit soundcloud.com