KBS has debuted an online platform named KBSDirect.com for accredited investors and advisers to directly invest in KBS Growth & Income REIT, a portfolio of institutional-quality commercial real estate properties — the first of what promises to be several real estate products added to the platform over time. To date, the Growth & Income REIT, which has no load or upfront fees, has three equity properties valued at $150.4 million.
KBSDirect.com was created to provide individual investors and advisers a mechanism for directly investing in real estate with risk-adjusted return profiles similar to those KBS’s institutional clients have been accessing for more than 25 years.
“Across almost every investment sector, online platforms have increased transparency and reduced transaction costs,” KBS chairman Peter Bren said in a written statement. “This technology is a mega-shift in the investment universe.”
KBS chief executive Chuck Schreiber said KBSDirect.com has leading-edge technology to eliminate upfront fees and commissions to investors. The platform’s structure ensures that 100 percent of the investor’s capital is invested directly into the REIT, according to Schreiber.
The initiative makes KBS one of the first institutional-grade sponsors to offer investors access to direct investments in real estate, similar to those long accessed by public and corporate pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and other institutional investors. The commercial real estate accessible on the platform is managed by KBS through its national teams of investment and operational professionals. KBS operates and manages more than 40 million square feet of office space with an aggregate value of $11 billion.
Thus far, the KBS Growth & Income REIT has acquired three office buildings valued at $150.4 million in Houston, Portland, and Irvine, Calif. Additional properties are in various stages of due diligence review, including a seven-story class A office building in Chicago with a contract purchase price of $43.5 million. Upon closing this acquisition, the estimated value of KBS Growth & Income REIT’s real estate portfolio would be $193.9 million.
Mike Consol (m.consol@irei.com) is editor of Real Assets Adviser. Follow him on Twitter @mikeconsol to read his latest postings.