Dive Brief:

• Miami-based Lennar Corp., the second largest U.S. homebuilder by volume of closings, has formed a $1.1 billion equity fund to develop multifamily properties in 25 top metropolitan markets.

• The firm, which builds mostly single-family homes, will invest $504 million in the joint venture with investors and will build, through the new Lennar Multifamily Venture, an array of garden, mid-rise and high-rise multifamily complexes. The company will hold those communities in a portfolio long-term for cash flow, according to a press release.

• Lennar has built multifamily communities in the past, but structured those projects to sell once they were leased and stabilized, CEO Stuart Miller said in the release.

Dive Insight:

Miller called the move to retain an ownership interest in income-producing communities “a game changer” for the firm.

Still, he said, homebuilding will remain the firm’s “primary driver of our earnings.” But he noted that the company’s “complementary ancillary businesses are really starting to define themselves.”