Spotlight: Starboard Realty Advisors, a Multifamily and Net-Lease DST Sponsor

The Irvine firm runs a separate private fund that fronts preferred equity to its own DST depositor entities, so acquisitions can close before exchange capital arrives.

September 15, 2026

Starboard Realty Advisors sponsors Delaware statutory trust offerings built on Class A apartment communities and single-tenant net-leased retail, and manages those assets through a wholly owned affiliate, Starboard Management Services. William H. Winn and Stephen J. Carlton founded the firm in Irvine, California, in January 2014. Winn had spent 16 years at Passco Real Estate Enterprises and Passco Companies as senior partner and president, where, according to Starboard, he helped direct 46 real estate programs between 1998 and 2005 that raised more than $426 million from over 2,800 investors.

A fund built to finance its own pipeline

Alongside the DST program, Starboard raises private funds under a separate brand site. The Starboard DST Bridge Fund I supplies short-term preferred equity and debt to DST depositor entities affiliated with the fund’s general partner — Starboard’s own acquisitions. The 45-day identification and 180-day closing deadlines that govern a 1031 exchange often require a sponsor to take down a property before syndication capital or permanent financing is finalized, and the fund covers that interval. According to Starboard, each investment is underwritten to a specific transaction objective and structured around an anticipated capital event rather than long-term ownership, with liquidity generally targeted through DST syndication, refinancing, or another recapitalization.

A second vehicle, the Starboard Multifamily Income Fund I, acquires Southern California apartment properties and expands them by adding accessory dwelling units within the existing footprint, using the state law changes that have made ADUs faster to permit than new construction. The firm describes the approach as increasing unit count and net operating income without ground-up development or speculative entitlement risk.

Published acquisition criteria

For multifamily DSTs, Starboard targets primarily Class A properties of at least 100 units, at purchase prices typically starting at $15 million, financed at 55% to 65% fixed rate on a seven- to ten-year term and held seven to ten years, concentrated in secondary western markets with population and job growth. Value-add Class B properties that may not qualify for an exchange start at $5 million and carry variable bridge debt on a three-year term with two one-year extensions, held three to five years.

The net-lease criteria are narrower. Starboard buys single-tenant retail and restaurant properties between $1.5 million and $5 million each and aggregates them into one DST offering rather than syndicating them individually. Tenants must have at least 12 years remaining on the initial lease term plus extension options and rent increases every one to five years, with the firm targeting 60% loan-to-value on fixed-rate ten-year debt.

For multi-tenant retail, Starboard’s stated preference for the DST structure is shadow-anchored neighborhood centers priced between $5 million and $25 million, at least 85% occupied at purchase, with leverage of 60% to 65% and cash-on-cash returns starting at 6% to 7%. It names twelve states it buys in: California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida.

Track record and current offerings

Starboard reports passing $500 million in cumulative acquisitions in May 2022 and 1,000 multifamily units in August 2021, and its site currently shows 1,904 units under management. Its first purchase was Diagonal Marketplace DST in Longmont, Colorado, in April 2015; its first multifamily acquisition was Badger Mountain Ranch in Richland, Washington, in March 2018. Dan De Leon was promoted to president and chief operating officer in March 2025, with Carlton, previously president, continuing as a partner.

Recent offerings have concentrated in Columbus, Ohio. Starboard Elan DST, holding the 252-unit Elan Park Apartments, launched in December 2024 seeking $28.1 million and was fully syndicated in April 2025. In August 2025 Starboard acquired Makley Place, a 140-unit community with three ground-floor commercial units near Ohio State University and the Wexner Medical Center, into Starboard Makley DST, seeking $21.3 million.