Westlake Urban

What Westlake Urban does

Westlake Urban is the development and repositioning arm of Westlake Realty Group, Inc., a family-owned, vertically integrated real estate investment and development firm founded in 1972 and headquartered in San Mateo, California. The company operates a diversified portfolio spanning multifamily residential (Kirkham Heights, Santa Rosa Oaks, Stony Creek, Valencia Townhomes), commercial office (520 South El Camino Real, 909 Montgomery St., 350 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Quail Court Office Park), retail (Skyline Plaza, Lido Faire, 555 Mowry Ave), industrial outdoor storage (IOS assets in CA and TX), self-storage (via the Frontera West JV with Extra Space Storage and Public Storage as third-party managers), hospitality (Hilton Garden Inn San Jose Airport, Japan assets), and land holdings — alongside a separate international arm (Westlake International) operating office, elderly care, and hospitality assets in Japan. The firm generates revenue from long-term rental income, asset management fees (150 bps of equity raised), acquisition and disposition fees (100 bps each), 65/35% carry above an 8% hurdle, and episodic development gains and capital gains from institutional portfolio sales.

The company is in its third generation of family leadership, with Kristina C. Chang serving as CEO since 2022 after having joined in 2014 and raised outside institutional capital for the first time. Business is conducted as a private placement model targeting family offices, HNWIs, and institutional LPs, with approximately 90% reinvestment reported among existing investors. Distribution relies on an investor portal (Juniper Square), direct relationships, off-market broker networks targeting middle-market ($7-15M) deals, and two third-party brokerages (Colliers International, Kidder Mathews) for leasing. The GP co-invests 10-30% of equity into most deals — materially above industry norms — as a deliberate alignment mechanism.

The technology stack is conventional for the asset class: no proprietary platforms, no API, and no in-house AI/ML product. Recent strategic moves include venture investments in Prophetic AI and Stuf Storage to embed AI into IOS deal sourcing and storage operations, the Frontera West self-storage JV (December 2022), ground-up development in Sonoma, and the build-out of an IOS asset class platform targeting a fragmented $200B market with only ~10% institutional ownership. With 1-10 employees, the firm operates a lean team led by a Stanford MBA CEO and a CFO with Carmel Partners, Lennar, and Arthur Andersen pedigree.

Name

Westlake Urban

Legal name

Westlake Realty Group, Inc.

Website

https://westlake-realty.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1972

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Westlake Urban is the development arm of Westlake Realty Group, a third-generation, family-owned real estate investment and development firm based in San Mateo, CA, operating a diversified portfolio across multifamily, office, retail, self-storage, IOS, hospitality, and international assets for family office and institutional LP capital.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Real Estate Investment & Development

NAICS

Lessors of Real Estate (5311), Real Estate Property Managers (53131), Land Subdivision (2372), Lessors of Miniwarehouses and Self-Storage Units (531130)

SIC

Real Estate (6500), Land Subdividers & Developers (No Cemeteries) (6552)

akta.pro primary industry

Residential Land Development & Subdivision Homebuilding (Build-to-Sell Communities) (IMAFABAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Urban Renewal, Brownfield Redevelopment & Land Reuse (BPAIANAI)

Keywords

• Real estate investment
• Property development
• Asset management
• Multifamily housing
• Self-storage investment

Headquarters

HQ city

Belmont

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Infrastructure, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Property Rental Income: Long-term rental income from owned properties including multifamily, office, retail, self-storage, and industrial assets across their portfolio
2. Asset Management Fees: 150 bps of equity raised for asset management. Fee structure includes 100 bps for acquisition and disposition fees, 150 bps of equity raised for asset management, and 65/35% carry over 8% return
3. Real Estate Development: Ground-up development and repositioning of properties for sale or long-term hold, generating development profits and value creation through institutional-quality improvements
4. Capital Gains from Dispositions: Sale of properties to institutional buyers, with historical 25-50 bps compression in exit cap rate when aggregating portfolios for institutional sale

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Westlake Urban is the development arm of Westlake Realty Group, a family-owned real estate investment and development firm. It executes ground-up development and repositioning of multifamily, hospitality, commercial office, retail, self-storage, and industrial outdoor storage (IOS) properties, while raising LP private equity and providing asset management for a diversified portfolio across California, Nevada, Utah, Texas, and Japan.

Product overview

Westlake Urban operates as the development arm of Westlake Realty Group, a family-operated real estate investment and development firm based in San Mateo, California. The company functions as a vertically integrated real estate owner-operator with multiple distinct platforms: Westlake Realty (core investment operations), Westlake Urban (ground-up development and repositioning), Westlake International (Japan operations), and Frontera West (self-storage platform via joint venture with Frontera Real Estate Investments). The portfolio spans multiple asset classes including multifamily residential (Kirkham Heights, Santa Rosa Oaks, Stony Creek, Valencia Townhomes), commercial office (520 South El Camino Real, 909 Montgomery, 350 Frank Ogawa Plaza, Quail Court), retail (Skyline Plaza, Lido Faire, Mowry Center), industrial outdoor storage (IOS facilities in Clovis, Laredo, Gilroy, Sacramento), self-storage (managed by Extra Space Storage and Public Storage), hospitality (Hilton Garden Inn San Jose Airport), and land holdings throughout California. The company also invests in adjacent real estate technology companies including Prophetic AI and Stuf Storage.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Frontera West: Self-storage acquisition and development platform operated as a joint venture with Frontera Real Estate II, LLC, focused on western United States opportunities

Products and services

• Real Estate Development Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Achieved 7.25% cash on cash yield on Oceanside multifamily property within 3 years (up from 4.0% cap rate at purchase)
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Frontera Real Estate InvestmentscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2022Westlake Urban and Frontera Real Estate Investments formed a joint venture in December 2022 focused on self-storage acquisition and development opportunities in the western United States. The partnership has completed multiple acquisitions including properties in West Valley, Utah; Magna, Utah; Dixon, CA; Sonoma, CA; and Bakersfield, CA. The firm has developed its first ground-up self-storage project in Sonoma, CA.
• Extra Space StoragecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorExtra Space Storage manages multiple self-storage facilities owned by Westlake/Frontera joint venture including properties in Reno, NV (ABC Mini Storage) and Dixon, CA. Extra Space has expressed confidence in achieving significant rental growth at acquired properties.
• Public StoragecoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPublic Storage manages Westlake/Frontera joint venture self-storage facilities in West Valley, Utah; Magna, Utah; Stockton, CA; and Sonoma, CA. Properties range from 39,255 to 97,600 square feet.
• Aveva (Schneider Electric group)majorOthersAveva, a member of Schneider Electric group, is the Phase 1 tenant at San Leandro Tech Campus with 132,000 SF fully leased and occupied.
• Ghirardelli ChocolatemajorOthersGhirardelli Chocolate occupies Phase 2 at San Leandro Tech Campus which is fully leased and operational.
• Ariat InternationalmajorOthersUnion City-based footwear and apparel company Ariat International leased more than 80,000 square feet of office space at San Leandro Tech Campus.
• Palo Alto Partners, LLCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint venture partner with Westlake on 2000 Delaware project - a fully entitled 60-unit moderate-rate workforce apartment development on a 99-year fully subordinated ground lease from The City of San Mateo.
• Colliers InternationalcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party commercial real estate brokerage handling leasing for multiple Westlake properties including 520 South El Camino Real, 909 Montgomery St., 350 Frank Ogawa Plaza, and San Leandro Tech Campus.
• Kidder MathewscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThird-party commercial real estate brokerage handling leasing for Westlake office properties including 520 South El Camino Real, 909 Montgomery St., and 350 Frank Ogawa Plaza.
• Stuf StorageminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStorage technology company Westlake has invested in, which transforms vacant office space and outdoor areas into tech-enabled storage facilities using AI-driven pricing and customer support.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Public Storage: Largest US self-storage REIT; manages additional Westlake/Frontera JV facilities and represents a natural buyer for aggregated self-storage portfolios Westlake may seek to exit.
• Extra Space Storage: Public self-storage REIT that operates multiple Westlake/Frontera JV facilities under third-party management agreements; provides institutional-quality operating infrastructure directly tied to Westlake's self-storage platform.
• Sares Regis Group: Large privately held West Coast real estate developer, investor, and operator active across multifamily, commercial, and industrial — directly comparable as a West Coast-focused, vertically integrated middle-market operator.
• Carmel Partners: West Coast multifamily-focused real estate investment firm with a value-add strategy in middle-market deals; closely comparable given Westlake CFO Lino Campanile's prior tenure at Carmel and overlapping Bay Area geographic focus.
• Frontera Real Estate Investments: Direct JV partner in the Frontera West self-storage platform; co-invests alongside Westlake on self-storage acquisitions and development in the Western US, operating with similar middle-market, value-add discipline.

Broad incumbents

• Equity Residential: Large public multifamily REIT concentrated in coastal US gateway cities; comparable to Westlake's multifamily strategy but at vastly larger scale and with a publicly traded, fully institutional operating model.
• Regency Centers Corporation: Public grocery-anchored shopping center REIT (formerly merged with Equity One, where CEO Kristina Chang worked as a Senior Analyst); broad incumbent comparable for Westlake's retail portfolio strategy.
• AvalonBay Communities: Public multifamily REIT with significant West Coast urban and suburban infill exposure; broad incumbent comparable to Westlake's multifamily portfolio but operating at multibillion-dollar scale.
• Lennar Corporation: One of the largest US homebuilders and diversified real estate developers; comparable as a broad incumbent in residential development, with Westlake CFO Lino Campanile having previously worked in Lennar's Bay Area Urban Division.

Emerging players

• Stuf Storage: Tech-enabled storage company Westlake has invested in that converts vacant office and outdoor space into AI-priced storage facilities; emerging player at the intersection of self-storage and proptech with overlapping thesis on fragmented supply.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/westlake-realty-group

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Westlake Urban