Lafayette Real Estate LLC and Guardian Residential partnered to launch a single-family build-to-rent investment platform.

The new firm, called Lafayette Communities, will focus on acquiring and developing newly built homes for the purpose of long-term rentals. It will be led by Lafayette CEO Thibault Adrien and Guardian CEO Dennis Cisterna III.

The company's first rental community, the 51-unit Preserve at Pine Grove in Tampa, Fla., will open in early June.

Lafayette Communities also has other communities under development in Florida. Before the end of 2019, it plans to expand into Texas, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee.