Two investment firms are setting up a new lender for one of the most capital-hungry parts of the housing business: the land that homes are built on. Wafra Inc., a New York alternative investment manager, and Hunt Companies, a privately held real estate and investment firm based in El Paso, Texas, announced on Nov. 2, 2026 the launch of Strata Land Partners, a land finance platform for public and private homebuilders and developers across the United States.
Strata starts with projects covering about 1,300 single-family lots, according to the announcement. Its chief executive is Mike Forsum, a homebuilding executive who most recently was president and chief operating officer of Landsea Homes. The firms did not disclose how much capital they have committed to the platform.
How land banking works
The announcement describes Strata as offering “flexible land-banking solutions designed by builders for builders.” In a land-banking arrangement, a financial partner buys land or finished lots and the builder holds an option to take them down over time as it sells homes. The builder ties up less of its own cash and keeps much of the land off its balance sheet. In return, the builder typically pays an option fee and a return on the partner’s capital.
The model has become a big business. Millrose Properties, a publicly traded land banker, has grown its holdings to $9.7 billion of homesites. Strata is far smaller, and its pitch is that it is run by operators rather than financiers. Its website says the platform is “led by former homebuilding and development executives” and structures capital “around the opportunity,” evaluating each transaction on its own merits.
The firms tied the launch to builder demand for “more efficient, flexible capital partners that can navigate today’s market.” The launch comes as financing has grown more expensive for builders. RealtyWire reported earlier that the cost of credit for builders has climbed since the end of 2025, and builders in some markets are also competing with data center developers for land.
Who is running it
Forsum has more than 40 years in homebuilding and residential land capital, according to Strata’s website. He was president and COO of Landsea Homes from 2016 to 2024 and led the company through its 2021 public offering. Under his leadership, the site says, Landsea grew to $1.6 billion in revenue and 2,831 annual home deliveries.
Landsea is now private. New Home Co. completed its acquisition of Landsea on June 25, 2025, paying $11.30 a share in cash. That deal was funded in part by equity from Apollo-managed funds and by land-banking capital from Millrose, which acquired $522 million of homesites under option with New Home.
Forsum has worked on land-banking vehicles before. Strata’s website says he worked with Colony Capital to launch Arcadia, a large residential land-banking platform. He also co-founded Starwood Land Ventures with Starwood Capital Group, which deployed more than $250 million across more than 17,000 lots. Earlier, he held senior roles at KB Home and Ryland Homes.
The website lists two other team members. Josh Santos was vice president of corporate homebuilding operations at Landsea from 2024 to 2025 and earlier ran its Northern California division. Nicholas Capogrosso was a vice president in CMBS capital markets at Wells Fargo Securities and earlier worked at Hunt Real Estate Capital.
“Strata was built by builders, for builders,” Forsum said in the announcement. “Having spent my career in homebuilding, it is apparent that there is significant demand for a strategic capital partner that understands the industry’s operational nuances and thoughtfully supports builders in achieving their goals.”
The backers
Wafra says it manages about $30 billion across strategic partnerships, real assets and infrastructure, and real estate. Its strategy is to build platforms in operationally intensive real estate niches with experienced management teams. “Wafra has proved time and again its ability to identify white space where there are opportunities to create scalable businesses,” said Adel Alderbas, Wafra’s chief investment officer.
Ryan Brenner, managing director and head of alternative real estate at Wafra, said, “The U.S. faces a structural shortage of housing, and Strata will enable builders to deliver homes while navigating uncertain environments alongside a creative thought partner able to deliver bespoke, tailored solutions.”
Hunt, founded in 1947, invests in real estate, infrastructure and financial services. Chris Hunt, the company’s chief executive, said Strata “brings together an experienced operating team and flexible capital to address a critical need in residential development.”
The announcement does not name the builders behind the first 1,300 lots or say where those projects are, so the platform’s size and reach are still unknown. More homebuilding and market coverage is in RealtyWire’s housing market section.
