Walton International Group, a North America based real estate investment and land asset company, administers and manages over 106,000 acres of land across the United States and Canada. The Group offers a new approach for leading homebuilders and developers to meet their land light strategies with the advantage of achieving financial flexibility.
Boasting over 40-years of experience, the Walton Group’s disciplined approach and unique industry solution attracts investors seeking to diversify their investment portfolios with alternative assets. The Walton Group’s real estate assets, which span across 23 major North American markets and comprise 179 master-planned communities with multiple uses and purposes, offer global investors unique land investment opportunities that capitalize on the stable economic growth in these regions.
Finding the Right Land Through Proprietary Research
At the core of the Walton Group’s land investment strategy is exit focused pre-development land. The Walton Group takes a multi-phase approach towards investing in pre-development land, a process that begins with identifying the right land. Walton spends a minimum of two years researching and assessing a prospective area to identify parcels of land in the “path of growth”. This multi-layered due diligence process analyzes environmental, geographic, political and economic factors to determine the development potential of a land project.
Concurrent with the strict due diligence process with independent third parties, Walton will engage a major US homebuilder (“Builder”) to assess the new property, review the financials of the project and enter into an exit focused agreement (“EFA”) that would allow the Builder to ultimately purchase the property from the land owners at a future price and date.
Macroeconomic analysis of the Metropolitan Statistical Area is especially relevant to provide an accurate forecast for ongoing housing demand. This thorough research process provides both investors and developers with a comprehensive understanding of the land and its potential for future growth and development, and therefore is critical to the ultimate success of the land investment.
Seasoned Experts in Exit Focused Pre-Development Land Investment
This rigorous land research process is followed by the syndication of the land through the Walton Group’s distribution channels across North America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The Walton Group has acquired over 85,000 acres of land diversified across the growing sunbelt cities in the United States since 2008. During the hold period, the Walton Group manages and administers the land, carries out pre-approved planning activities on behalf of landowners, and keeps investors informed through regular project updates.
Strategic Land Solutions and Strong Partnerships
The Walton Group’s strategic portfolio of land assets are well positioned to meet the rising demand for land development in North America. The US in particular is seeing ever-growing housing needs as the economy, jobs and overall population continue to expand. Three million people added to the U.S. annually equates to average annual demand of 1.3M housing starts since 1959. Continued housing demand will provide opportunities for owners of land assets located in markets with strong population and housing permit growth. This significant demand for development-ready land located in key growth centers provides a profitable exit strategy for land investors, as homebuilders and developers acquire land for development.
Over the years, the Walton Group has worked on multiple deal structures with best-in-class homebuilders and developers to monetize pre-development land assets. Now, with secular shifts in the homebuilding industry leading homebuilders and developers to focus on land light strategies, the Walton Group has adapted to provide innovative solutions to the industry’s challenges. Walton’s new approach offers homebuilders the financial flexibility to acquire properties in phases. As a result, investors benefit from realizing investment returns incrementally and at an earlier stage. To date, the Walton Group has exited 116 projects and distributed more than USD 1.5 billion to global investors.
Diversification Through Innovation
In response to evolving investor needs, Walton has further diversified its investment solutions with the innovative Builder Option Land Developer Fund (BOLD Fund). The BOLD Fund offers investors the opportunity to participate in the growing US home building market. Working together with large volume US homebuilders, the fund will acquire properties for near term residential development and sell them to homebuilders in phases with an adjustable takedown schedule and flexible financing options. Investors are anticipated to receive annual distributions as homes are developed and sold in phases.
Walton’s unique investment solutions offer investors access to land investments which typically have high capital requirements and were historically the preserve of institutional investors. Walton’s 40 years of experience in researching, syndicating and monetizing land assets has contributed to its emergence as one of the largest real estate asset managers in North America. Walton’s exit focused pre-development land projects and the BOLD fund will continue to evolve over time in response to investor needs and their appetite for innovative and profitable investment products.
