With Velocis Fund’s final closing date approaching, the fund has accepted an additional USD40m in capital commitments since December.
The recent commitments give the commercial real estate fund more than USD197m of assets under management.
Management expects to raise another several million dollars before the fund’s final closing on 29 March.
“We are pleased with Velocis Fund’s performance to date and are focusing our attention on the pending final close, as well as sourcing new acquisitions. Our recent mark-to-market numbers (unaudited) show an anticipated increase in portfolio value of over 15 percent and an increase in equity value of over 30 per cent,” says Fred Hamm, Velocis managing principal. “Since all new investors come in at par, they benefit from the positive growth in the Velocis portfolio. Additionally, at final closing, Velocis Fund will be approximately 50 per cent invested, providing new investors a clear picture of their investment. We are well positioned to take advantage of attractive investment opportunities in 2013 and 2014.”
The fund targets US real estate assets in demand driven/supply constrained markets in the USD10m to USD50m range, focusing on core-plus office, medical office and retail properties. The fund is specifically sized to acquire a diversified portfolio of assets that may be too large for individual investors, but too small for many large institutional investors.
Velocis currently owns seven assets in Texas and one in Colorado. The portfolio includes two office buildings in Houston; a medical office building in Austin; two shopping centres in Austin; a medical office building in Fort Worth; a shopping centre in Fort Worth; and an office building in Denver.
The fund’s most recent acquisitions were two shopping centres in Austin: West Woods Shopping Center and Springdale Shopping Center. Together the centres have more than 350,000 square feet of retail space. The fund owns an additional Austin property: The Jefferson, a 97,552-square-foot medical office building. The fund’s Houston properties include two office buildings -- 7700 San Felipe, a 100,716-square-foot office building; and Echo Lane, a pair of niche trophy office properties comprising nearly 190,000 square feet of Class A office space. Velocis owns two assets in Fort Worth -- the iconic shopping centre, Ridglea Village and Magnolia Medical Tower, an 89,727-square-foot medical office building located in the heart of the Fort Worth Medical District. The fund owns a 76,084 square-foot traditional office building, in the Greenwood Village sub-market of Denver.
Launched in 2010, Velocis has set, and successfully met, capital raise goals for investments in real estate assets in high growth US markets. Velocis is seeking to raise a total of USD150m in equity from institutional and high-net worth investors in the US, Mexico and Europe to provide more than USD375m of purchasing power, incorporating moderate leverage.