Activist Investor Pushes Apartment REIT Veris Residential To List Itself For Sale
A major shareholder in multifamily REIT Veris Residential went public with a call for the firm to look for potential buyers.
Erez Asset Management, a private investment fund focused on small-cap REITs that owns a roughly 5% stake in Veris, sent a letter to Veris management on Dec. 1 calling for a review of strategic alternatives, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week.
Erez executives believe the REIT could sell for as much as 70% above where its stock was trading in late 2025.
Veris owns 17 apartment developments, 11 on the New Jersey waterfront near New York City and six in Massachusetts, according to its third-quarter report. In the letter, Erez CEO Bruce Schanzer said the assets were underpriced despite being in supply-constrained, high-growth markets.
The stock has traded for a discount compared to its net asset value for all but 15 trading days over the last 10 years, and recent comparable REIT sales signal the market is receptive to buyouts, Schanzer wrote.
“Given the nature of Veris’ challenges, incremental improvements and further one-off asset sales are unlikely to close this gap. Clearly, a different approach is needed,” wrote Schanzer, who was previously the CEO of retail REIT Cedar Realty Trust before it merged with Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust in 2022.
The letter was first reported by Reuters on Thursday. Schanzer is no stranger to pushing for management shifts at REITs. In 2024, Erez used its 1.3% stake in Whitestone REIT to help lead an activist push to shuffle the board of directors.
Veris didn’t respond to a request for comment, and Schanzer declined to comment beyond the letter. Veris’ stock was trading up more than 2% to around $16.35 per share amid a broader market rally Friday, and shares are up more than 15% over the last six months.
Still, Erez in its letter points to Aimco’s liquidation plans, the exploration of a sale by Centerspace, and the ongoing sell-off of assets at Elme Communities that has already raised more than $1.6B as evidence a strategic review would maximize value for shareholders.
Erez estimates a sale of the REIT could attract bids ranging from $22 per share to $25 per share, a 40% to 70% premium on where the stock was trading in December.
The investment firm requested the opportunity to meet with REIT management to make its pitch in the December letter and said its preference was to push for the strategic review privately.
“However, given the significant opportunity for value creation at Veris, we are prepared to share our views with the Company’s shareholders, if necessary,” Schanzer wrote.
Veris sold $542M worth of assets in the third quarter and reported 80 cents in net income per share compared to a 10-cent loss over the same period the prior year. Its properties were 94.7% occupied at the end of September, up 1.4% from the prior quarter.
Same-store net operating income was $45.4M across the portfolio in the third quarter, down 2.7% from the previous year. Veris is scheduled to report fourth-quarter earnings before markets open on Feb. 25.
REITs have broadly struggled to attract capital in a frothy equity market where artificial intelligence is driving outsized gains. The FTSE Nareit All Equity REITs index rose 2.3% in 2025, compared to a 20% return for the Nasdaq Composite Index.
Private capital has poured into the space, sensing that public real estate firms are trading at prices well below the value of their assets.
Brookfield Asset Management agreed to pay a 34% premium in February to buy industrial outdoor storage REIT Peakstone Realty Trust for $1.2B.
A group of investors including Blackstone said in December they would pay $1.5B for a public REIT focused on retail assets in Hawaii, roughly 40% above its share price. Makarora Management and Ares Alternative Credit made a successful $2.1B unsolicited bid to take Plymouth Industrial private in October.
