Sterling Real Estate Trust Lifts Redemption Cap to $100M, Boosts Trustee Share Pool

Sterling Real Estate Trust, doing business as Sterling Multifamily Trust, a nontraded real estate investment trust primarily focused on North Dakota residential properties, has raised the aggregate cap on its share and unit redemption plans to $100 million from $75 million and increased the number of shares authorized under its independent trustee compensation plan to 60,000 from 40,000.

The redemption plans are designed to provide limited interim liquidity for shareholders until a formal liquidity event occurs.

Under the amended plans, redemptions may be made quarterly at the REIT’s sole discretion on a pro rata basis. The redemption price is determined by the board on an annual basis prior to Jan. 1 of each calendar year and was set at $24.22 at the beginning of 2026. Sterling’s common share price is set annually by the board using a net asset value calculation method, with the underlying portfolio and debt data assembled by the trust’s affiliated adviser, Sterling Management LLC, rather than by an independent third-party valuation firm.

Sterling has said the board does not employ a fixed valuation formula and determines the price in its sole discretion based on data points the adviser provides. The board raised the common share price to $25.50 from $24, effective Jan. 1, 2026. It became $24 after the board raised it from its $23 value on Jan. 1, 2025. Shareholders must have held their shares for at least one year to be eligible, though this requirement is waived for shares purchased via reinvested dividends, death of a stockholder, or those held in 401(k) accounts. Additionally, Sterling Management LLC is prohibited from participating in the redemption program.

Any shares or units redeemed by the company will be canceled and returned to the status of authorized but unissued shares.

The board also approved a third amendment to the REIT’s independent trustee common shares plan. The amendment increases the number of authorized shares under the plan from 40,000 to 60,000.

The plan pays 100% of independent trustee compensation in whole common shares rather than cash. According to Sterling, the structure aligns trustee and shareholder interests, conserves cash, and gives leadership a personal financial stake in the REIT’s long-term performance.

The board maintains the right to terminate, amend, or suspend the redemption plans if it determines such action is in the company’s best interest. The plans would automatically terminate if the shares were listed on a national securities exchange or became subject to bona fide quotes on an inter-dealer quotation system.

The REIT’s board declared its 92nd consecutive quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, maintaining an annual dividend yield of 5%.

Sterling Multifamily Trust operated as a private nontraded REIT from 2002 to 2010 and registered with the SEC as a public nontraded REIT in 2011. The REIT has continuously offered shares since its formation and has not announced a defined liquidity event timeline. Sterling had 12,891,389 common shares of beneficial interest outstanding as of March 19, 2025.

Sterling Multifamily Trust focuses on the acquisition and management of multifamily residential properties. As of Dec. 31, 2025, its portfolio comprised 175 properties across 12 states, including approximately 12,295 multifamily apartment units and roughly 1.16 million square feet of leasable commercial space, with a carrying value of approximately $902.4 million net of depreciation. Sterling reported total assets of approximately $979 million at year-end 2025. The portfolio remains concentrated in the Upper Midwest: 135 of the 175 properties are located in North Dakota, with 84 in the greater Fargo, N.D., and Moorhead, Minn., metropolitan statistical areas. The company holds all assets through an umbrella partnership REIT, or UPREIT, structure.

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