Swiss landlord Varia hands Brookfield 90% of a $694M portfolio

Varia US Properties has agreed to contribute 13 multifamily properties to a pair of joint ventures with Brookfield Asset Management affiliates, The Real Deal reported. The Zug-based landlord values the portfolio at about $693.9 million. The contribution price is 9.5 percent below the portfolio's first-quarter 2026 appraisal. Varia says the discount reflects institutional apartment pricing and the scale and certainty of the deal.

The ventures are cut differently. Brookfield takes 90 percent of the smaller one; Varia keeps 10 percent and runs it day to day. The smaller vehicle holds 1,060 units, spread across four properties. The larger one has nine properties and is worth about $515.5 million. It holds 3,052 units. Varia retains 60 percent there and holds major decision-making rights over asset sales for the first two years. It plans to dispose of that portfolio within 12 to 36 months and put the proceeds into acquisitions with Brookfield.

The deal does more than recapitalize existing assets. Varia also gains access to as much as $200 million of acquisition capital, the money behind its plan to move from older, capital-intensive buildings into newer assets with stronger cash flows.

The cash arrives in stages. Varia expects about $48.6 million in net proceeds at closing. Another $101.9 million should follow after two wholly owned properties are sold. Four properties remain outside the ventures. Those buildings hold 1,162 units, and two are already slated for all-cash sales within about a year.

Manuel Leuthold, Varia's board chair, said the transaction "allows us to materially improve our balance sheet, crystallize meaningful value for shareholders, and retain participation in the future upside of the assets we know best." Varia expects the deal to leave a net asset value of roughly $255.4 million. That is about 60 percent above its market capitalization as of Aug. 12. Closing is expected early in the fourth quarter.

Brookfield, which is taking the bigger stake in the smaller vehicle, has its own multifamily book in motion. The firm is marketing a 30-story, 156-unit rental tower at 15 Cliff Street in Manhattan's Financial District, asking about $105 million, The Real Deal reported. The building spans 154,000 square feet, went up in 2001, and is 97 percent leased. Brookfield acquired it in 2018 from Carmel Partners as part of a $1.9 billion portfolio deal.

Brookfield is paying below appraisal on one side and asking a price on the other. The assets are not comparable: different quality, location, and capital position. The Varia discount is what it costs to move a large, certain portfolio when institutional buyers are setting marks.

Varia gets the liquidity it needs without selling everything. It keeps 60 percent of the larger vehicle, runs the smaller one, and has years, not months, to exit. The $200 million acquisition line ties Varia to Brookfield for the next phase, making them partners not just in these 13 properties but in whatever comes next.

The deal lands in a week when Blackstone's BREIT sold its last self-storage assets and pushed capital into data centers. Big allocators are reordering portfolios, not waiting for values to recover. Varia's bet is that a partner with Brookfield's balance sheet is the fastest way to reposition.