Almanac Realty Investors holds $2.26b final close for real estate securities fund
Almanac Realty Investors, a provider of growth capital to private and public real estate companies, has held a final close of its latest real estate fund, Almanac Realty Securities VIII (ARS VIII), with more than $1.9 billion raised in equity commitments, exceeding its $1.5 billion target. Sidecar co-investment vehicles also raised an additional $360 million in equity commitments.
ARS VIII will primarily seek private investments of growth capital into private and public real estate companies to capitalize on the continued shift of real estate ownership to integrated entities. ARS VIII succeeds seven previous funds, which combined have committed more than $5 billion across 41 companies.
“We continue to identify strong investment opportunities in real estate companies who can profitably utilize long-term, flexible capital to pursue their strategies and significantly grow their businesses through the acquisition, development or redevelopment of real estate assets,” said Matthew Kaplan, managing partner of Almanac.
ARS VIII received commitments from existing investors in previous funds in the series as well as new investors, said Josh Overbay, managing director. Some of these commitments include $75 million from the Orange County Employees Retirement System and $20 million from the San Diego City Employees’ Retirement System.
ARS VIII has already made a commitment to invest up to $150 million in McNeill Hotel Company. McNeill, based in Memphis, is a hospitality real estate and property management company focused primarily on the acquisition and development of premium-branded select-service hotels located throughout the United States.
Overbay discussed the growing opportunity set for Almanac as well as investor interest in investing in real estate operating companies. “From an investment sourcing perspective, we are only seeing our opportunity set grow. Almanac has been a player in a longer-term shift toward real estate companies organizing themselves as fully integrated entities, in both the public and private markets. Particularly as a private real estate owner/operator, you no longer only have the two primary options of raising capital either deal by deal in separate joint ventures, which is an inefficient way to run a capital-intensive business, or undertaking the often long and difficult process of becoming an institutional fund manager. You can also build a dynamic company with a focused strategy, a board of directors, an incentive compensation structure, and a strong balance sheet, much like you see in the public REIT sector today."
“I think more and more investors see the power of investing directly into real estate companies, and the enhanced alignment with operators that approach provides,” said Overbay.
From the time of its founding in 1981, originally under the name Rothschild Realty, Almanac Realty Investors has raised more than $7.5 billion related to a wide array of real estate opportunities.
