Matthew Sheridan spent the past decade working with one of the nation's largest commercial real estate brokerages, but after helping to close more than $500 million in multifamily deals, he is ready to return to his roots.
With so many investors willing to bet on the rebound of the city's apartment market, "there is such an opportunity in San Francisco," said Sheridan, the new head of multifamily and investments for real estate firm Maven Commercial. "Yes, San Francisco is a little battered and a little bruised, but buyers have faith that the city will bounce back."
As the San Francisco multifamily market goes through what Sheridan considers to be a "correction," the former Newmark executive is going through a transition of his own. In his new role, which he started earlier this month, he'll build on the real estate experience and relationships he has in the multifamily and investment sector to bridge the gap between the city's apartment market and Maven's deep roots in the local retail sector.
"Maven is known in the city as being at the forefront of commercial and retail leasing," said Sheridan, who began his real estate career as deputy director of the San Francisco Apartment Association, a local trade group that represents multifamily landlords. "There's a good symmetry between its retail background and the work I've been doing in the multifamily market."
It's an interesting time for San Francisco apartments, especially after two years of shifting demand, depressed pricing and pandemic-driven changes that could permanently alter where renters choose to live and how investors decide to buy. While a slew of tenants abandoned the city in the early days of the global health crisis, their gradual return meant about 60% of 2020's decline in rents was recovered in the first half of 2021, according to CoStar data.
The typical apartment in San Francisco averages more than $3,070 per month, according to CoStar data, making it the most expensive multifamily market in the United States. That standing has helped pull small and midsize investors back to the city to take advantage of pricing that has yet to return to pre-pandemic peaks.
Sheridan is a longtime San Francisco resident, first in North Beach and now in in his neighborhood of choice, Inner Richmond, where he and his wife are raising two kids. His weekend go-to is San Francisco's Presidio national park or Aquatic Park Cove, where he hangs out with his two "water baby" children.
With that time spent in the city, Sheridan has not only seen the changes that have unfolded since 2020, he's lived them.
"With Newmark, I would head to the office in the Financial District, and while the recovery isn't in sight for those more commercial areas, neighborhoods like North Beach, where Maven is based, or Hayes Valley and Cow Hollow are thriving," he said. "Most of the acquisitions over the past year have been in those neighborhood, residential-focused areas as there's a flight among buyers to tried-and-tested, go-to neighborhoods."
There is still a long way to go in terms of San Francisco's multifamily market clawing its way back to pre-pandemic levels of demand. Sheridan said that now is the best possible moment for investors to build their San Francisco apartment portfolios — and for him to continue building his own career under the new Maven flag.
"Sure, rents and pricing are still a bit depressed, but in two to three years the city will once again be thriving," he said. "Putting capital into the multifamily sector is a smart choice as rents slowly tick upward and we hit the summer months when more tenants move to the city. We will see a lot of moving vans streaming in, and that drives values and rents and will bring value to the city's apartment buildings over time."