{"id":4607,"date":"2026-05-27T14:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T14:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/27\/tom-steyers-real-estate-holdings-add-latest-wrinkle-to-his-populist-pitch\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T14:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T14:02:08","slug":"tom-steyers-real-estate-holdings-add-latest-wrinkle-to-his-populist-pitch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandiegorelocationnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/27\/tom-steyers-real-estate-holdings-add-latest-wrinkle-to-his-populist-pitch\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Steyer\u2019s real estate holdings add latest wrinkle to his populist pitch"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As an avowed progressive candidate running for California governor, Tom Steyer has pledged to build 1 million new homes to address a dire housing shortage. At times, he\u2019s directed some blame at \u201ccorporate landlords\u201d who he says profit as Californians struggle to endure skyrocketing housing costs.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m going to stop Wall Street from buying up middle class homes,\u201d Steyer said in one ad.<\/p>\n

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But as an investor, the former hedge fund manager has earned double-digit returns from a related investment vehicle: residential apartment complexes that have at times raised fees, evicted tenants and suffered major maintenance issues.<\/p>\n

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The Democrat has roughly $3.5 million invested in several funds run by Walnut Creek-based Bridge Partners, which owns apartment buildings across the country but is concentrated in California.<\/p>\n

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Many people may be unknowingly exposed to similar investments through their pensions or 401k. As an investor, Steyer didn\u2019t have direct oversight over the properties and would not have been informed about evictions or maintenance issues. A Steyer spokesperson said he invested in Bridge properties because of the firm\u2019s focus on multifamily affordable housing.<\/p>\n

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And Bridge Partners\u2019 CEO, Julie Gutzwiller, said the firm is committed to residents\u2019 wellbeing, spending up to $30,000 per unit improving its apartments.<\/p>\n

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But public records, interviews with tenants and online reviews of the properties suggest at the very least, investors and tenants are not always equal winners.<\/p>\n

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In the suburbs of Nashville, Tennessee, Bridge Partners sold an aging affordable housing complex earlier this year for over $5 million more than it paid for it in 2019, prompting the company\u2019s Chief Investment Officer Brad Harrington to boast on LinkedIn of a \u201cgreat result for our investors.\u201d<\/p>\n

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But some residents say the property was poorly maintained, with one reporting sewage seeping into her bathtub. Bridge Partners also filed more than three dozen eviction cases against tenants in the 100-unit complex, though online court records don\u2019t indicate the reasons for the claims and not all filings end in evictions.<\/p>\n

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County code inspectors cited another of the company\u2019s properties, Copper Creek Apartments in Sacramento, nine times since 2019, including for a sewer issue that posed such a severe public health risk county officials threatened to take over repairs.<\/p>\n

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Separately, recent disclosures show Steyer has smaller investments of less than $1 million in Brookfield Corporation, an asset management company whose vast holdings include mobile home parks that have from private equity watchdogs.<\/p>\n

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As the second-highest polling Democrat and only billionaire in the race, Steyer\u2019s financial holdings have become a key focal point ahead of the June 2 primary. He\u2019s faced repeated attacks from rivals like Xavier Becerra, the apparent frontrunner, over Steyer\u2019s previous investments in private prisons and fossil fuels as well as his current holdings in offshore private equity funds.<\/p>\n

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The real estate investments underscore a central challenge of his candidacy: persuading progressive voters that a billionaire can be a credible populist \u2014 and that his days profiting from potentially problematic industries are fully behind him.<\/p>\n

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Steyer has said he regrets his past fossil fuel and prison investments and removed them from his Forbes-estimated $2.4 billion portfolio. And he has suggested his wealth allows him to avoid being swayed by business and industry interests.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn a world where politicians serve special interests, I can\u2019t be bought,\u201d Steyer said in February.<\/p>\n

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Most self-funded candidates have been unapologetic about the sources of their wealth, said Thad Kousser, a political science professor at the University of California, San Diego. Steyer, on the other hand, has spoken extensively about his pivot toward progressive politics and away from his life as a high-flying hedge fund manager.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThat marks him as taking a different approach than other self-funded candidates,\u201d Kousser said. \u201cBut it also keeps the conversation going about where he raised his money and what that says about his values.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Participating in \u2018The System\u2019<\/h2>\n

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Bridge Partners isn\u2019t a household name in the world of real estate investing and its footprint is more modest than some of the larger players in the space.<\/p>\n

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But its funds tout strong returns for investors. One of the firm\u2019s executives said investors in one earlier fund, including Steyer, earned net annualized returns of about 16% over eight years.<\/p>\n

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Gutzwiller said the company buys neglected properties, spends between $10,000 and $30,000 per unit to improve its apartments and caps rent increases below market rates.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOur strategy is consistent: We acquire existing multifamily assets with the objective of improving housing quality and long-term viability,\u201d Gutzwiller said in an email.<\/p>\n

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Still, some residents said the company has fallen short of those goals.<\/p>\n

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At a complex in Jackson, Wyoming \u2014 one of the most expensive rental markets in the U.S. \u2014 residents reported rent hikes, fee increases and issues with cleanliness after Bridge Partners purchased what was then called Blair Place Apartments in 2021.<\/p>\n

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\u201cUnder the new management, the building is dusty, trash piles up, and garbage sits out longer in common spaces like the laundry room,\u201d the Jackson Hole News & Guide reported in 2024.<\/p>\n

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The apartment complex, rebranded as Latitude 43, is one of the few relatively affordable options in the richest county in the U.S. But the News & Guide noted that after Bridge Partners purchased the property, residents must pay eight extra fees in addition to rent, from homeowners association fee to a real estate tax.<\/p>\n

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\u201cReally unsatisfied with the service we are provided by them with the amount they charge (broken laundry for months on end, flooded parking lots, fallen signs, poor communication),\u201d one renter said in a 2023 government survey of Teton County renters.<\/p>\n

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Steyer\u2019s tax returns show he invested in a fund created to buy the property. Gutzwiller said the apartments charged below market rate rents and renewal rates, at 80-90%, reflected the fact that it remained an affordable option in the area.<\/p>\n

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Steyer also invested in a fund that until earlier this year owned Sumner Estates, an older property complex about 20 minutes outside Nashville that includes some tenants whose rent is subsidized by government vouchers. The complex\u2019s website advertises two-bedroom units starting at $1,250.<\/p>\n

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Chellie Wilson said she moved into the building in 2019 with her two children because it was the cheapest she could afford. She recalled the building\u2019s new owners making a raft of promises, adding new playground equipment and a pool.<\/p>\n

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Instead, Wilson said the company added a coat of paint to siding, \u201ccheap vinyl flooring\u201d and changed the complex\u2019s signage.<\/p>\n

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The Waffle House waitress said the building\u2019s management was inattentive to a raft of deeper issues, from sewage backups that crept into her bathtub to mold and a malfunctioning air conditioning unit.<\/p>\n

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Wilson said she fell behind on rent and, at the apartment managers\u2019 request, successfully sought COVID-19 rental relief funds that the apartment then refused to take and evicted her in 2021 \u2014 variations on a theme Wilson said she saw play out again and again in the building.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s an atrocious situation,\u201d Wilson said.<\/p>\n

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Gutzwiller said the company invested $22,000 per unit during their ownership of the building, including making major repairs to problems they\u2019d inherited with plumbing and HVAC systems as well as overhauling apartments\u2019 interiors. She described evictions as a \u201clast resort\u201d to address tenants who weren\u2019t paying rent, and said they worked with tenants to accept COVID relief funds.<\/p>\n

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Steyer\u2019s disclosures show he holds less than $1 million in stock from Brookfield Corporation, an unrelated asset management firm whose holdings include nearly 100 mobile home parks, according to the watchdog nonprofit Private Equity Stakeholder Project. The Financial Times reported in September that the company is in talks to grow its portfolio by acquiring more than 200 mobile home parks owned by Yes! Communities<\/p>\n

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The potential consolidation raised alarm bells with PESP, who\u2019ve noted institutional investors have a track record of sharply increasing rents on their properties.<\/p>\n

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