Arselle Investments, a Sawtelle-based real estate investment platform founded last year, partnered with Amoroso Cos. to launch a new acquisition-focused multifamily platform dubbed Amonte Living.

The aim is to acquire up to $500 million worth of multifamily properties in the next two to three years with a focus on the western U.S.

The birth of Amonte formalizes an existing partnership between Arselle and Amoroso, which is based Calabasas. Last year, the firms purchased three multifamily properties in joint ventures, totaling $90 million.

These included Alur, a 51-unit complex in Pasadena; Sofi Topanga, a 119-unit property in Chatsworth; and Terraces at La Cienega, a 48-unit building in West Hollywood.

Drawing from Amoroso’s experience in developing, operating and investing in multifamily – along with Arselle’s “deep capital markets, investing and asset management experience” – Amonte will “capitalize on the substantial re-pricing that has occurred in the sector,” a release stated.

Tracking opportunity

Within the West Coast, Amonte will specifically target suburban and infill areas.

Kevork Zoryan, Arselle co-founder and managing partner, said it’s a lucrative time for this venture.

“We see a lot of opportunities to acquire very good assets at attractive entry points that reflect significant discounts to replacement costs and the basis of prior owners in locations we really believe in,” Zoryan said.

Moreover, the pressure on “many overleveraged owners” right now will further create buying opportunities, said Aaron Greeno, co-founder and managing partner at Arselle.

Zoryan and Greeno started Arselle nearly one year ago with the goal of providing both capital and advisory services to real estate firms, along with establishing relationships across asset types.

“Our strategy is really to build verticals across a few asset classes that we feel have the right dynamics to perform well through the mid and long term because we want to be in these businesses for a long time and also have near term attractive pricing and dynamics where we can do well with investments that we would make in short order,” Greeno said in an April interview with the Business Journal.

Repositioning

For Amoroso, this joint venture is an important part of the firm’s larger strategy to reposition its legacy assets – which includes hospitality, medical office and self-storage – in favor of multifamily.

“The opportunity to partner with Arselle will allow us to accelerate this growth leveraging our operational expertise and their deep relationships and capital markets experience,” said Jason Amoroso, chief operating officer at Amoroso.

In its 45-year tenure, Amoroso has invested about $550 million in real estate assets and developed, owned or operated close to 8,000 residential units.

“We have always invested significant capital from our own balance sheet into deals and have a strong focus on risk management and the importance of long-term relationships in our business,” Amoroso said.