What Happened to the Steadfast REITs? What a $10, $15 or $25 Share Became in Independence Realty Trust (IRT)

The roll call: three Steadfast REITs and what a share became

Steadfast Companies, which the REITs' 10-Ks say Rodney F. Emery founded in 1994, sponsored three public REITs that filed 10-Ks. This is what each one's own filings say. The last column compounds the exchange ratios (our arithmetic) and prices the IRT shares at the October 2, 2026 close reported in IRT's S-4/A filed October 5, 2026.

Two things the table hides. First, STAR is the only one of the three that survived the 2020 merger, so a SIR or STAR III holder went through two exchanges to reach IRT. Second, the three REITs were not three independent businesses: the merger proxy says SIR and STAR “are advised by entities that are affiliated with each other and have overlapping board members,” which is why each side formed a special committee of independent directors and hired its own advisers.

The timeline, from the 2010 offering to the 2026 Centerspace deal

What one original share became, in IRT shares and in dollars

Because the IRT exchange ratio is fixed, the value of your holding moves with IRT's price, not with anything STAR did. The 0.905 applies to a STAR share, so a SIR or STAR III share first became STAR shares, then IRT shares.

Add the cash and the picture is: a STAR share held from the start returned $6.60 in declared distributions plus $22.13 of IRT stock at the closing price, $28.72, or 1.91 times the $15.00 paid (our arithmetic). At today's IRT price the same two pieces total $19.73 (our arithmetic). A SIR buyer from the first day of the 2010 offering had received $7.17 in cash by June 30, 2019 per the merger S-4; add $13.13 at closing and the total is $20.30 against $10.00, or $14.96 at $14.51 (our arithmetic). A STAR III buyer from the first day had received $4.41 by June 30, 2019; add $31.64 and it is $36.05, or $23.19 at $14.51, against $24.00 invested (our arithmetic).

Read those totals as ceilings in some places and floors in others. They leave out distributions SIR and STAR III paid after June 30, 2019, and every IRT dividend after December 16, 2021 (IRT's quarterly rate was $0.12 in February 2022, $0.14 from May 18, 2022, $0.17 on December 15, 2025 and $0.18 declared May 13, 2026, which on 0.905 shares is about $0.65 a year, 4.3% of $15.00, our arithmetic). They also ignore the reinvestment of distributions, which changes a DRP holder's share count, and any tax. The S-4 cash figures are for an investor who took every distribution in cash.

Steadfast Income REIT (SIR): the $10 share that had returned 71.7% in cash by 2019 and merged at $9.40

SIR began as a $9.40 private offering in October 2009 (637,279 shares, $5,844,325 net) before its public offering opened on July 19, 2010 at $10.00. Its 10-K describes the sponsor as Steadfast REIT Investments, LLC, “majority owned and controlled indirectly by Rodney F. Emery,” SIR's chairman and chief executive. The dealer manager, which sold the shares through brokers, was an affiliate then named Steadfast Capital Markets Group and now Stira Capital Markets Group.

The path to $9.40 is mostly one deal. On November 15, 2017 and January 31, 2018 SIR contributed 12 and then eight apartment communities to a joint venture with Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust and sold 90% of each; the two groups had aggregate purchase prices of $318,576,792 and $117,240,032. It paid a $1.00 special distribution to holders of record on April 20, 2018, $75,298,163 in total, which the 10-K calls “representing a return of capital,” and the board cut the estimated value by the same dollar. The regular rate went from 7.0% to 6.0% of $10.24 and then to 6.0% of $9.24. The December 31, 2018 estimate of $9.40 is 6.0% below the $10.00 first-day price, before counting what had been paid out.

SIR's redemption program shows how little liquidity there was. The board suspended repurchases on April 28, 2018 and reinstated them on May 20, 2018 at 93% of the estimated value, $9.15 a share. In 2018 holders asked to sell 2,786,995 shares and the program bought 836,770, or 30.0% (our arithmetic), under a cap of $2,000,000 a quarter. In an August 15, 2019 letter SIR told holders that its amended repurchase plan limited repurchases to death and qualifying disability and that all ordinary repurchase requests were canceled.

The merger terms came from the net asset values: 0.5934 STAR shares is $9.40 divided by $15.84, the two December 31, 2018 estimates (our arithmetic). The SIR agreement had a go-shop that ended September 5, 2019 and a $20.9 million termination fee if SIR took another bid after it. Its advisor agreed to waive its disposition fee on the merger. On March 2, 2020, with 58.06% of the shares present, holders voted 38,791,849.28 for, 1,748,044.31 against and 1,750,582.14 abstaining on the merger, and 38,955,954.47 for and 1,832,985.52 against on a charter amendment. That amendment is the part few holders noticed: under SIR's charter a merger of this type was a “Roll-Up Transaction,” and holders who voted “Against” could stay SIR holders or take cash equal to a pro rata share of the appraised value of SIR's net assets. The proxy said SIR and STAR determined it was necessary to amend the charter to eliminate those provisions, so approving the charter amendment removed that exit before the merger closed on March 6, 2020.

Steadfast Apartment REIT (STAR): $15 a share, a flat 6% until the 2020 cut

STAR's 10-K for 2019 gives the offering: $15.00 a share from December 30, 2013, 48,625,651 shares and $724,849,631 when the offering ended on March 24, 2016, and 54,276,237 shares and $809,562,356 by December 31, 2019 once reinvested distributions are counted. Its estimated value moved little: $15.18 at the end of 2017, $15.84 at the end of 2018, $15.23 on March 6, 2020 after the mergers and $15.55 at the end of 2020.

The distribution was the product. STAR declared $0.663 per share for 2014 (from April 7) and $0.900 in each year from 2015 through 2020, a 6.0% rate on $15.00. Its 10-Ks put the tax return of capital at 79.3% in 2018, 82.1% in 2019 and 100.0% in 2020. In its January 12, 2021 decision the board cut the rate to $0.001438 a day, $0.525 a year, from February 1, 2021, and extended it through April 30, 2021; the cut stayed in force for every month through November 2021. For the last six record days, December 1 to 6, 2021, the board set the daily rate at $0.00359590 so holders would receive “the same amount of aggregate distributions they would have received” had the old rate run through December 15, 2021. Total declared per share in 2021 is about $0.53 (our arithmetic: 31 days at $0.002466, 303 at $0.001438 and six at $0.0035959).

STAR's repurchase program followed the same pattern as SIR's. It was limited to death and disability from the September 5, 2019 amended plan, reopened to all holders on April 1, 2020 at a $4,000,000 quarterly limit and 93% of estimated value, then closed to everyone but death and disability on January 12, 2021 with a $3,000,000 limit. The price then was $14.46, 93% of $15.55. The plan and the reinvestment plan were terminated when the merger closed on December 16, 2021.

The mergers made STAR about twice its size. It acquired 36 multifamily properties with 10,166 apartment homes, issued 56,016,053 shares and, by March 6, 2021, had about 110,090,259 shares and 39,600 stockholders. Its own 10-K for 2020 reported no material legal proceedings. One note from August 17, 2021: the board recommended that holders reject a mini-tender offer for up to 125,000 shares, about 0.1% of the shares outstanding; our tender-offer review explains why those bids are usually far below value.

Steadfast Apartment REIT III (STAR III): the $25 share nobody finished raising money for

STAR III is the small one. It sold Class A at $25.00, Class T at $23.81 and, from July 25, 2016, Class R at $22.50, and stopped its primary offering on August 31, 2018 with $207,087,610 raised by year-end including reinvested distributions (Class A $86,485,589, Class R $10,747,201, Class T $109,854,820). It owned ten properties with 2,775 apartment homes at December 31, 2018 and had about 8,633,782 shares held by about 5,000 stockholders. Class A paid $1.500 a share in 2017 and 2018, 6.00% of $25.00, and 99.82% of the 2018 distribution was tax return of capital. Its estimated value was $22.54 for every class as of June 30, 2018.

The exchange at 1.430 STAR shares valued each STAR III share at $22.65 on STAR's $15.84 value; the merger S-4 added the cumulative cash an investor had received to that figure: $4.41 for a buyer on February 5, 2016 and $1.24 for a buyer on August 31, 2018, on $24.00 of average invested capital. The 1.430 ratio is the largest of the three because the share was priced at $25, and it is also why STAR III holders are the only group still under their cost at IRT's October 2026 price: $4.41 plus $18.78 is $23.19 against $24.00 (our arithmetic, before distributions after June 2019 and before IRT dividends).

What the sponsor was paid: the $124,999,000 internalization

On August 31, 2020, six months after the REIT mergers, STAR bought out its own management. Steadfast REIT Investments, LLC contributed the entity that employed the staff and the assets needed to run the REIT in exchange for $124,999,000: $31,249,000 in cash and 6,155,613.92 Class B units of the operating partnership. A special committee of independent directors negotiated it; the 8-K states that “Approval by the Company’s stockholders is not required under Maryland law or the Company’s governing documents,” so there was no vote. STAR also paid $1,000 for the advisor's Class A convertible shares and signed a transition services agreement at cost plus 15% to March 31, 2021.

The units were priced at $15.23 each ($93,750,000 divided by 6,155,613.92), the same $15.23 STAR had just published as its March 6, 2020 value (our arithmetic). Sixteen months later the merger turned each Class B unit into 0.905 IRT operating-partnership units. At the $24.45 closing price that is about $136.2 million for the units (our arithmetic), plus the $31.2 million of cash, about $167.5 million against the $124,999,000 headline. Those units are subject to restrictions on when they can be redeemed, so that is a closing-date mark, not cash.

The IRT deal: terms, premium, and what happened to the stock

IRT and STAR signed on July 26, 2021 with a fixed 0.905 ratio and no adjustment for price moves. IRT closed at $20.00 on the last trading day before the announcement, so the ratio was worth about $18.10 a STAR share, 16.4% above STAR's $15.55 value (our arithmetic). By closing, IRT had risen to $24.45 (December 15, 2021), and the same ratio was worth $22.13, 42.3% above $15.55. This is the reverse of the discounts we measure when a non-traded REIT lists on its own; see our NAV-discount ladder for that side. IRT stockholders approved the share issuance on December 13, 2021 with 86,233,396 votes for and 148,445 against.

The closing 8-K gives the size of what IRT took on: IRT assumed about $1.7 billion of mortgage debt secured by 49 properties at a 3.9% weighted average rate, and issued 99,720,948 shares and 6,429,481 operating-partnership units. Its 10-K put the total purchase price, including the debt, at $4,677,522 thousand. Holders received cash in lieu of fractional shares.

Since then IRT's stock has not kept pace with the closing-date price. It closed at $24.05 on February 11, 2022, $15.93 on February 12, 2026 and $14.51 on October 2, 2026, down 40.7% from $24.45 (our arithmetic). The dividend, by contrast, has risen from $0.12 to $0.18 a quarter. The September 2026 Centerspace agreement is a stock deal at a fixed 3.800 ratio; Centerspace holders would own about 22% of the combined company, and IRT's employee letter says the closing is subject to stockholder approvals and other customary closing conditions. IRT stock is the reference for every number in the right-hand column of the table above.

What a Steadfast holder or former holder can do with this

• If you held SIR, STAR or STAR III and never looked again: your broker or transfer agent should show IRT shares, 0.537027, 0.905 or 1.29415 of one for each original share (our arithmetic), as whole shares plus cash for any fraction. Find the ratio in the table above, then check the share count against your statement.
• If you want the cost basis for taxes: the merger filings state that each merger was intended to qualify as a “reorganization” under Section 368(a) of the Internal Revenue Code. IRT's S-4/A says a U.S. holder generally recognizes no gain or loss on the exchange except for cash in lieu of a fractional share, and that the basis in the IRT shares equals the basis in the STAR shares surrendered. STAR's 10-K says a distribution above earnings is a return of capital that reduces basis. Combine that with the tax return-of-capital percentages above (2018 to 2020 for STAR) before you sell; our Section 199A and 1099-DIV guide shows how other REITs report the same split.
• If you are looking at IRT now: the stock is listed, so you can sell any trading day, and there is no redemption queue. The record to read is IRT's S-4 on the Centerspace merger and its 10-Q, not Steadfast's. The shares you hold also change character: STAR paid a flat $0.90, while IRT's dividend is $0.18 a quarter and now depends on a larger, more leveraged company.
• If a firm offers to “recover” old Steadfast shares or to buy them: the three REITs no longer exist, the exchange ratios are public, and we did not find a pending claim in the filings we read. Our tender-offer analysis shows how far below value those bids usually are. For the same kind of path at another sponsor, see our Griffin Capital roll-call.

This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice.

FAQ

Sources, read on October 7, 2026: Steadfast Income REIT (CIK 1468010) Form 10-K for 2018 (0001468010-19-000013), 8-Ks of August 5, 2019 (0001193125-19-214181), August 15, 2019 (0001468010-19-000035) and March 3, 2020 (0001193125-20-060357); Steadfast Apartment REIT (CIK 1585219) Forms 10-K for 2018 (0001585219-19-000012), 2019 (0001585219-20-000012) and 2020 (0001585219-21-000024), the SIR and STAR III merger S-4s of November 5, 2019 (0001193125-19-284814 and 0001193125-19-284595), 8-Ks of March 6, 2020 (0001193125-20-064451), September 3, 2020 (0001193125-20-238929), December 17, 2020, February 23, 2021, August 19, 2021, November 12, 2021 (0001585219-21-000164) and December 16, 2021 (0001193125-21-358700); Steadfast Apartment REIT III (CIK 1651286) Form 10-K for 2018 (0001651286-19-000017); Independence Realty Trust (CIK 1466085) 8-Ks of July 26, 2021 (0001564590-21-037931), December 13, 2021 (0001564590-21-060157), December 16, 2021 (0001564590-21-060503) and September 9, 2026 (0001437749-26-029903), the S-4/A of September 28, 2021 (0001193125-21-284956), the S-4/A of October 5, 2026 (0001437749-26-032031), Forms 10-K for 2021, 2022 and 2025 (0001564590-22-006764, 0001466085-23-000024, 0001437749-26-004376) and the 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 (0001437749-26-025677). Per-share values of exits, sums, percentages and the unit valuation are our arithmetic and exclude distributions or IRT dividends not stated. This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice.