Breneman Capital: 2025 Year-End Review
2025 was a successful year for Breneman Capital. In total, we transacted on $36.7 million of real estate over the course of the year, comprising two sales and two acquisitions in the Chicago IL and Milwaukee WI markets.
Below is a summary of those transactions:
In our 2024 Year-End Review, we shared that we had made a confident pivot to Midwest markets given their strong occupancies and rent growth, relative lack of new supply, and favorable cap rates. In 2025, that resulted in planting our flag with our first acquisition in the Milwaukee WI market as well as our 25th acquisition in the Chicago IL market. Moreover, we had further defined our investment criteria to abide by these Four Pillars:
Location and Building Quality: Identify the best neighborhoods to protect and grow capital and maintain high standards for property age and construction quality.
Buy Right: Aim to “make money on the buy” by sourcing opportunities through off-market channels and acquire investments that have above-market cap rates, below-market price per unit/square foot, and below replacement cost.
Upside Potential: Seek opportunities with clear and demonstrable upside such as loss-to-lease, value-add potential, advantageous loan assumptions, property tax abatements, etc.
Conservative Structure: Minimize return volatility and protect investors from downside exposure by having investments that can accommodate multiple exit strategies.
We believe investments exhibiting the above characteristics are uniquely positioned to be the most beneficial for our investors, and both PrairieWalk and Aura are ideal examples of the Four Pillars.
Not much has changed at Breneman Capital as we approach 2026. We will continue to examine market fundamentals, maintain diligent sourcing efforts, and uphold our commitment to our investors’ best interests. We remain steadfast in investing in opportunities located in the Midwest that are consistent with our Four Pillars. We are also eager to possibly explore opportunities beyond just the Chicago IL, Madison WI, and Milwaukee WI markets where we have acquired properties over the last two years.
As we look back on 2025, we are proud of the accomplishments we have made. Once again, we would like to thank our investors for their continued trust in Breneman Capital, and we look forward to a successful year in 2026.
Sincerely,
The Breneman Capital Team