by Stephen Ursery

Ashcroft Capital, a fully integrated multifamily investment firm, today announced the addition of Bill Kay as managing director of capital markets. The hiring of Kay will support Ashcroft’s continued emergence in the rental-housing sector as the company continues to acquire assets in its existing markets in the Sunbelt and seeks to enter new markets.

Kay will lead all capital markets activities at Ashcroft, with a focus on equity relationships with institutional investors such as real estate funds, endowments, foundations, major insurers, sovereign wealth funds, pensions and family offices. He will also actively participate in the investment and asset management processes across the company.

“With more than two decades of experience in private real estate and private equity, it was quickly apparent that Bill is the perfect fit to lead our institutional investor relations and fundraising efforts,” said Frank Roessler, founder and chief executive officer of Ashcroft Capital. “He has a proven track record of helping to build world-class institutional investment management companies, and we could not be more excited about having his leadership, knowledge and experience as part of the Ashcroft team.”

Prior to joining Ashcroft, Kay held senior leadership roles at Lubert-Adler Real Estate, Apollo Global Management, Morgan Stanley AIP and others. A Dartmouth College graduate with an MBA from The Fox School of Business and Management at Temple University, he has extensive global experience advising investors in tactical and strategic portfolio construction. His strategic acumen encompasses an extensive array of private strategies in fund, direct and co-investment formats. 

“I’m thrilled to join the Ashcroft Capital team, which has established itself as a major player in the multifamily industry and is committed to aggressive but highly strategic growth,” Kay said. “I am thoroughly impressed with the company’s proven track record of creating value through the rebranding, renovating and repositioning of its acquired properties, as well as its history of delivering strong returns to investors and improving the resident experience. The company already has done an outstanding job of developing funding, and I’m eager to lend my expertise to help an on-the-rise company continue to thrive.”

Since its inception, Ashcroft Capital has acquired more than 11,500 units totaling more than $1.3 billion in value. Until this year, the company’s portfolio consisted of apartment communities in Jacksonville, Fla., Dallas-Fort Worth, Orlando, Fla., and Tampa, Fla. Ashcroft, which acquired just under $300 million of assets in 2020, recently entered the metro Atlanta market and is also seeking acquisition opportunities in the Charlotte, N.C., Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and Phoenix metros. Many of Ashcroft’s 2021 investments have been purchased through the company’s new $150 million Value Add Fund.