What We Do
We provide our clients with a comprehensive range of advisory services. Our clients benefit from a local team of dedicated professionals, without the burden of staffing a local based investment office. These services provide our clients the ability to source, underwrite, negotiate, finance, document and close transactions ranging in complexity from a single property acquisition to large, multi-property portfolios.
Acquisitions
Through frequent dialogue with our capital partners, we create well-defined investment criteria which include desired property sectors, targeted geographic regions, acceptable risk parameters and appropriate investment return thresholds. We then use our established network of public and private real estate owners, developers and brokers to source investment opportunities on behalf of our capital partners.
We coordinate all required due diligence to assist our capital partners in making fully informed investment decisions, including financing advisory services and collaboration with legal counsel in the documentation of every acquisition. With legal, investment banking and acquisitions experience, our professionals are well positioned to offer important leadership in the negotiation, documentation and closing of every transaction.
Asset Management
Our professionals have many years of asset management experience and take a hands-on approach to monitoring assets and making strategic and tactical recommendations to our capital partners. This experience is utilized to make strategic decisions to enhance the economic returns of our capital partners’ investments.
On behalf of our capital partners, we carefully screen property management and leasing agents to ensure that they have a proven track record, not only in management and leasing, but also in areas such as research, valuation, financial reporting, risk management, technology and construction. We review and, after consultation with our capital partners, approve strategic changes and tactical decisions that affect property and/or portfolio performance.
Once we acquire an asset, or portfolio of assets, on behalf of a capital partner, we conduct a hold-sell analysis in connection with the annual plan. We review a property’s performance, as well as its contribution to portfolio returns, if applicable. The decision to hold or sell an asset involves numerous factors, including investment objectives, asset sector dynamics, market/submarket positioning, anticipated capital requirements, rent roll quality and capital market conditions.
Once a property or portfolio of properties is identified for disposition, we present supporting analysis to our capital partner. We then discuss the advantages and disadvantages of various execution approaches, and if our capital partner agrees with the sale recommendation, we effect the disposition process. As a firm we proactively manage the disposition process, the basic components of which include preparation for sale, marketing for sale and execution of sale.
Joint Venture Advisory
We frequently represent our capital partners in the formation of joint ventures for the acquisition or development of real estate. These joint venture relationships have included partnerships with private owners, private developers, public REITs and private REITs. In addition to performing the traditional acquisition advisory services necessary to complete a real estate acquisition, we also provide specific advisory services related to the details of joint venture structures, including joint venture governance and decision making; fees associated with acquisition, asset management and disposition; performance-based “promotes”; dissolution/exit mechanisms; buy-sell/change of control procedures; exclusivity; and performance reporting.
We assist our international capital partners in overcoming one of the significant hurdles in attracting cross-border joint venture investment opportunities with local sponsors – i.e., the concern that an overseas institutional investor will be inaccessible for real-time decision making relating to foreign investments. On behalf of our capital partners, we act as a local representative with the ability to attend meetings, tour properties, participate in conference calls and make decisions based on a local timetable. We bridge any time zone differences and ensure that decision making is always conducted in a timely manner to maximize the opportunity for a successful investment.
Restructuring & Workouts
We provide restructuring advisory services for our capital partners to improve the financial performance or recovery of underperforming investments. In particular, we specialize in situations where decisions need to be made quickly, often with imperfect information. Working in conjunction with our capital partners, we assist in devising and implementing turnaround and restructuring plans. This often includes modifying and amending loan terms, waiver negotiations, loan buybacks, recapitalizations of transactions, scenario-modeling and re-forecasting of financial projections.