Connect with our team

Name
Blaze Capital
hero approach

Start with people.
Build from there.

Experience has taught us that doing right by residents drives better outcomes for investors—so we start with residents’ needs and build strategies that address them. Blaze pairs deep insights with entrepreneurial thinking, pursuing carefully researched opportunities that others often overlook.

Focus

A sharper lens on living.

The living sector isn’t just part of what we do—it’s our sole focus. That gives us deeper insight, stronger execution, and greater perspective across the segments shaping the future of living.

building windows
building at night
Builders going over plans
magnifying growth

We invest in high-growth segments, including:

  • Apartments
  • Single-family rentals
  • Active adult communities
  • Manufactured housing
  • For sale communities
  • Storage concepts
  • Land
townhouse building with pool

Insights

Our top-down mindset helps us uncover opportunities others miss. We begin with insights into how people live, from demographic shifts to evolving lifestyles, and build investment strategies around them.

Trends we’re watching:

  • People talking

    Pivotal moments for two key demographics.

  • plant

    Rising costs create new growth opportunities.

  • 18 wheeler driving

    Domestic migration drives momentum

People talking

Pivotal moments for two key demographics.

Millennials are entering peak family formation years, driving demand for attainable homes and family-oriented communities, while Baby Boomers are looking to downsize and find housing better aligned with their next stage of life. We invest in living solutions designed to meet people at these pivotal moments.

plant

Rising costs create new growth opportunities.

Affordability challenges are changing how people think about housing. With home prices still elevated and rents stretching budgets, there is growing demand for new concepts that deliver more access and value. We focus on solutions designed for that gap.

18 wheeler driving

Domestic migration drives momentum.

Migration toward growth markets—especially in the Sun Belt—has remained strong, and moves are also driven by business-friendly markets, lifestyle priorities, and more flexible ways of working. We focus on solutions positioned for where people are heading next.

Our Principals

Led by its principals and supported by seasoned teams in Charleston and Atlanta, Blaze brings deep expertise to every relationship and investment. The team’s longstanding partnerships are built on trust, thoughtful service and a dependable track record earned over time.

  • Chris Riley

    Co-Founder & Managing Partner

  • Eddy O’Brien

    Co-Founder & Managing Partner

  • Heather Stewart

    Partner & Chief Financial Officer

chris riley

Chris Riley

Co-Founder & Managing Partner

Chris Riley is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Blaze Capital Partners. Chris is responsible for the strategic oversight and growth of the Company and jointly manages all day-to-day activities of Blaze. Specifically, he is actively involved in the creation of investment strategies, managing partnership relationships, capital markets activity, investment origination, and oversight of portfolio performance and execution.

Prior to co-founding Blaze, Chris was a Managing Director of Investments at Greystar Real Estate Partners, where he spent 14 years serving in multiple key leadership roles across the company. Most recently, he served as the portfolio manager overseeing Greystar’s flagship value-add acquisition fund series, an aggregate real estate portfolio totaling over $4.5 billion in assets across the United States. Previously, he was the National Director of Asset Management where he led a team of professionals responsible for the execution of asset strategies across Greystar’s acquisition and development platform. In addition, Chris also opened Greystar’s Southeast office in Atlanta and was responsible for the acquisition of over $150 million of multi-family communities, management of over 5,500 units, and managed a team of more than 250 employees. Prior to Greystar, Chris was with SunTrust Bank in Atlanta in the Corporate and Investment Bank.

Chris received his MBA from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University and his BA from the University of South Carolina.

Chris and his family reside in Charleston, SC.

eddy o'brien

Eddy O’Brien

Co-Founder & Managing Partner

Eddy O’Brien, CFA is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Blaze Capital Partners. Eddy is responsible for the strategic oversight and growth of the Company and jointly manages all day-to-day activities of Blaze. Specifically, he is actively involved in the creation of investment strategies, managing partnership relationships, capital markets activity, investment origination, and oversight of portfolio performance and execution.

Prior to co-founding Blaze, Eddy was a Managing Director of Investments at Greystar Real Estate Partners, the largest apartment operator in the US, where he served in multiple capacities across the Company’s investment management platform. Most recently, he led the Company’s investment strategy and capital raising activities, where he was actively involved in the creation and capitalization of multiple investment vehicles totaling over $4 billion in equity with strategies across the global rental housing spectrum.

In this capacity, Mr. O’Brien also founded and oversaw Greystar’s active adult platform, the Company’s age-qualified rental housing platform, where he led the growth of a $1.5 billion portfolio of development and acquisition projects across the United States. Prior to Greystar, Eddy worked as a REIT analyst with JP Morgan Asset Management in New York where he covered the healthcare and senior housing space and was involved in the management of a $1.5 billion global real estate securities portfolio.

Eddy received a BA in economics from the University of Notre Dame, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He is also a CFA charterholder.

Eddy and his family reside in Charleston, SC.

heather stewart

Heather Stewart

Partner & Chief Financial Officer

Heather Stewart is the Chief Financial Officer of Blaze Capital Partners and is responsible for the financial oversight and risk management of the Company and its affiliates in addition to overseeing Blaze’s platform services. In this role, Heather is actively involved in various strategic growth initiatives of the Company.

Prior to joining Blaze, Heather was the Director of Fund Accounting at Jamestown, an international vertically integrated real estate operator. At Jamestown, she oversaw the financial reporting and liquidity management of multiple closed-end real estate funds and the Chairman’s portfolio, totaling approximately $5 billion in gross asset value with investments in office, retail, multifamily, industrial, and timber assets. Over the span of a decade, her responsibilities included investor relations and reporting, cash management and treasury services, lender reporting, audit, and compliance testing. She has significant experience with SEC Registered Investment Advisor requirements and REIT compliance. Prior to Jamestown, she was an auditor with the accounting firm of Mauldin & Jenkins, LLC in Atlanta.

Heather received a Bachelor of Business Administration with a focus in Accounting and a Masters of Accountancy from the University of Georgia. She is licensed in Georgia as a Certified Public Accountant and is a member of CREW Atlanta and the Georgia Society of CPAs.

Heather and her family reside in Atlanta, GA.