What’s the largest residential properties investor from California?

The renowned thousandinvestors research team has identified that Ares Management is the largest residential real estate investor from California, with more than $104.4B in assets under management.

What is the investment focus of Ares Management ?

Ares Management is one of the world’s largest and most active real estate equity investors, particularly in California. As of March 31, 2025, the firm managed approximately $104.4 billion in real estate equity assets across more than 3,000 properties worldwide. Ares combines deep market insight with broad execution capabilities through its team of over 700 investment professionals operating from 44 offices worldwide.

Its real estate equity platform spans the full risk spectrum and includes core, core-plus, value-add, and opportunistic strategies. Ares focuses particularly on multifamily housing and logistics sectors and targets well-leased properties, value-creation opportunities, development projects, and more complex structured transactions, typically involving asset values between $10 million and $250 million.

Alternative candidates for the AUM-based ranking of residential real estate investors in California

The largest alternative candidate for our ranking is H.I.G. Realty Partners. As a division of H.I.G. Capital, the firm operates with over $70 billion in assets under management, specializing in both equity and credit strategies across the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. H.I.G. Realty Partners focuses on value-oriented real estate investments, including acquisitions, redevelopment projects, and structured credit opportunities, targeting undervalued or underutilized properties. In the residential segment, H.I.G. is particularly active in repositioning multifamily assets, especially in urban infill and high-growth secondary markets, where demographic and economic trends support long-term appreciation.

Another major residential real estate investor is Kennedy Wilson, a global real estate investment firm with approximately $29 billion in assets under management. These assets include 38,700 multifamily units across key regions in the western United States and Ireland. Kennedy Wilson focuses on creating value in real estate through a combination of acquisition, institutional-grade asset management, redevelopment, and creative recapitalization strategies. Its multifamily platform targets infill markets with limited supply, focusing on regions such as the Mountain West, Greater Seattle, and Dublin.

Both investors are part of the thousandinvestors database of the largest residential real estate investors from the US.

Image source: Gustavo Zambelli via Unsplash (June 23, 2025)

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