Experienced investment and development team achieves OZ fund target, deploys discretionary capital to fuel more than $1 billion in large-scale development projects
Halpern Real Estate Ventures (‘HREV’), a real estate investment platform focused on value creation in urban centers, today announced the close of its inaugural Opportunity Zone Platform (“the Platform”), after achieving its target of $50 million in General Partner capital in only nine months.
HREV reached its $50 million Platform threshold, which will support more than $1 billion in new development, despite challenges throughout the investment and commercial real estate communities in raising and deploying capital through the Opportunity Zone program.
With a track record of value creation in high-growth markets throughout the United States, HREV’s management team has cultivated trust among the Platform’s investors – which include 25 highly respected family offices, along with a large institutional investor – allowing the company to exercise full manager discretion in allocating capital through the Platform. Through this uncommon commingled structure, HREV will serve as GP in up to five development initiatives in key urban markets, including recently acquired projects in Denver, Jersey City, and Philadelphia.
“Understandably, the Opportunity Zone program generated immense investor attention when it was introduced in 2017,” said Jon Halpern, managing partner and CEO of Halpern Real Estate Ventures. “Following the launch of the program, however, there were perceived difficulties not just in raising capital, but in identifying specific projects that can take full advantage of the program’s unique financial incentives. We’re particularly proud to be able to move forward with impactful, entitled development initiatives through our Platform, the majority of which will be fully capitalized and shovel-ready in 2020.”
The Platform will continue the HREV management team’s long-term strategy of functioning as a hands-on GP in the development and operation of multifamily and mixed-use properties in burgeoning metropolitan neighborhoods. Among the projects fueled by the Platform is Train Denver, a transit-oriented development that is poised to accelerate the growth of RiNo, a former industrial zone in Denver that is experiencing a rebirth as a bustling arts district. Along with its local partner, Invent Development Partners, HREV is transforming the property into a mixed-use environment that features 275,000 square feet of contemporary office space, up to 200 residential units, a 200-key hotel, and an array of dining and entertainment – all centered around the 38th and Blake commuter rail station.
Plans regarding HREV’s Opportunity Zone developments in Jersey City and Philadelphia will be finalized in 2020.
The Qualified Opportunity Zone program was established through the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as a mechanism to spur economic development in designated underserved or low-income communities throughout the United States. Through investment that fosters business growth and job creation, including real estate development, private interests can secure increasingly beneficial tax advantages as the investment is maintained over time.
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