Revitate, LaTerra and WAY Capital Win National ‘Best Land Deal of the Year’ Award for New 344-Home Build-to-Rent Community
In mid-November 2023, Revitate Impact joined LaTerra Development and WAY Capital Inc. to break ground on the 344-home Bedrock at the Trails in Albuquerque, N.M. This build-to-rent residential community is going up on 37 acres in an opportunity zone, approximately 20 minutes from downtown Albuquerque.
Less than one month later, on Dec. 3, the partners joined forces again. This time, they accepted Informational Management Network’s 2023 “Best Land Deal of the Year” award for the project.
“This award recognizes the team’s excellence in acquiring, designing, entitling and building a large build-to-rent project valued at $100 million and above,” said Alex Bhathal, Revitate Co-Founder and Executive Chairman. “This beautiful project will help address the area’s significant housing shortfall by providing 344 new rental homes.”
The Background of Bedrock
With its gorgeous vistas and cultural diversity, Albuquerque is experiencing a population and job-growth boom. The region is a magnet for the high-tech, film production, aerospace and bioscience industries. This is bolstered by a business-friendly environment, world-class universities and renowned employers including Amazon, Netflix, Intel and NBCUniversal.
Despite a nearly 3% population growth during the past decade, Albuquerque currently stands as the city with the lowest number of apartments under construction in any major metropolitan area in the Western U.S. As a result, the demand for housing in and around Albuquerque is projected to outpace new supply, particularly in the rental market.
Enter Bedrock at the Trails, which offers 199 townhomes and 145 single-family homes. Also included on-site are pet-friendly parks, pools, fitness centers and a spa. This is the first BTR community in Albuquerque to offer high-quality rental housing at a discount to home ownership.
The Role of Revitate Impact
Bedrock represents the 15th opportunity zone investment led or co-led by Bhathal and his business partner and Revitate Co-Founder Lisa Bhathal Merage since 2018. Revitate seeks out commercial real estate developments in Qualified Opportunity Zones in emerging secondary markets across the nation. Revitate supplies joint venture equity to the sponsors upon finding suitable projects. The emphasis is on new rental housing and industrial development.
“Albuquerque’s fundamentals perfectly support Bedrock,” Merage said, who also serves as the firms Chief Impact Officer and Managing Partner. “In addition to addressing one of Albuquerque’s most pressing needs – new housing – the project offers potential attractive returns to our opportunity zone investors.”
She added that Bedrock fits with Revitate Impact’s core mission: to integrate positive social and economic impacts into development projects in the form of new jobs, housing, economic activity and positive environmental and community benefits.
“We’re grateful that IMN recognized all of our efforts with Bedrock at the Trails,” Merage said. “Revitate is honored to accept this award alongside our outstanding partners LaTerra Development and WAY Capital.”