Morgan Properties, an apartment giant based outside Philadelphia, agreed to buy Toronto-based Dream Residential REIT to add the Canadian firm's holdings in the U.S. Midwest and fast-growing Sun Belt.
Dream Residential values the all-cash purchase offer at about US$354 million, and it concludes the real estate investment trust's strategic review. Unitholders are set to receive US$10.80 per unit, 18% more than the REIT’s Wednesday closing price, upon stakeholder approval of the sale that would close late this year.
The deal would expand the holdings of Morgan Properties beyond its large concentration of apartments in states including New York and Pennsylvania to high-growth areas including Texas.
It also would bolster Morgan Properties presence in the Midwest, where rent growth outpaces the rest of the United States, according to a report from CoStar Group's Apartments.com.
Dream Residential has a portfolio of 15 properties and roughly 3,300 units, consisting mostly of garden-style apartment properties in areas such as metropolitan Dallas-Fort Worth as well as greater Oklahoma City and Cincinnati.
The REIT launched three years ago, and it has been led by CEO Brian Pauls since June 2023.
Morgan Properties ranked as the third-largest U.S. apartment owner, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council's 2025 Top Owners List. Morgan says it has a portfolio of over 100,000 units across more than 360 municipalities in 22 states.
Jonathan and Jason Morgan serve as co-presidents of Morgan Properties, founded in 1985 by their father, Mitchell Morgan. The company is headquartered in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, and operates another office in Rochester, New York.
The deal would also mark the end of the REIT’s service agreements with Dream Unlimited and Pauls Corp., with a separation payment of US$7 million to cover outstanding fees and wind-down costs, Dream Residential said.