Image courtesy of Walton Global Holdings.

National landowner Walton Global Holdings is launching a build-to-rent business line that will put 81,000 acres of its 98,000-acre land bank to use for single-family rental-home developments. 

The real estate investment and land asset-management company has $3.4 billion of assets under management. It has identified 17 near-term development opportunities and is in advanced negotiations with builders and developers to construct build-to-rent communities with about 2,500 units across the country. 

The company also plans to develop additional projects within its network of more than 180 master-planned communities and through new land purchases. 

For the last 42 years, Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Walton has specialized in pre-development land and land development. It has assets in 24 U.S. and Canadian cities, including Houston, Atlanta, Chicago and Phoenix, as well as four major Florida metros. 

“We see this as a tremendous opportunity to utilize our properties to provide additional single-family home inventory to growth markets throughout the country, but more importantly, affordable housing during a time when for-sale home pricing is rising at a dramatic pace,” Walton CEO Bill Doherty said in a press release. “We also recognize land is a high commodity for builders and single-family rental companies to enter this space — we are a natural partner for them.”