$700M Riverview homebuilder enters multifamily, build-to-rent market

In a move that founder and president Willy Nunn says he’s been looking at for a few years, Homes by WestBay is getting into the multifamily apartment market. 

The Riverview-based homebuilder, with $700.44 million in revenue in 2023, is also entering the fast-growing build-to-rent single-family home sector, according to a statement. 

The company named Brian LeBlanc, with experience in real estate and private equity in New York and Tampa, vice president of multifamily. LeBlanc worked for Morgan Stanley and AllianceBernstein in New York, among other firms, before joining Roers Cos. as a partner in Tampa in 2021, according to his LinkedIn profile. 

Photo by Joelle Cardinale

Working with Nunn, the company says in the statement that LeBlanc “will initially be focused on sourcing new land acquisition opportunities to feed the new rental housing business lines. Brian will then oversee the new project pipeline through entitlements, design, capitalization, construction, operations and ultimately disposition.”  

Nunn talked about entering the multifamily market in an interview with the Business Observer last fall. Nunn mentioned his belief that a market shakeout in the hot-hot-hot multifamily market is forthcoming. “We see opportunity, as institutional investors withdraw from the space due to changes in capital markets and the tremendous excess supply that’s coming,” Nunn said last October. 

At the time, Nunn said both new projects and acquisitions were possible. “I’m looking for apartment people,” he said. “It’s been on my mind for a while.”

“We’ve always been very intentional in understanding our homebuyers and maintain a keen eye on providing exceptional homes for desired lifestyles” Nunn adds in a Tuesday press release. “Our entry into multifamily and build-to-rent strategies will complement our luxury and attainable brands, and we continue to deliver exceptional design, quality, and value that our customers expect.”

This latest expansion follows WestBay’s recent internal reorganization to better focus on its adjacent sub-markets in Hillsborough, Pasco, Hernando and Marion counties to the north and Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, and Lee counties to the south.

Homes by WestBay was founded in 2009 and delivers more than 1,000 homes per year in the Tampa Bay area. It’s currently developing four master-planned communities, including Hawkstone, which launched in 2020; Crosswind Ranch, which launched in mid-2023; Pasadena Ridge, which is in site development and anticipates homes sales in mid-2025; and Mitchell Falls in 2026. Homes by WestBay is the parent company of Casa Fresca homes, which focuses on lower price points