The 2020 Qualified Opportunity Fund takes advantage of the strong pipeline of projects Grubb has.
By Tanya Sterling | January 15, 2020
CHARLOTTE, NC–Grubb Properties raised more than $160 million for its Southeast Real Estate Fund VI, while its 2019 Grubb Qualified Opportunity Fund topped $140 million.
As a result, Grubb Properties plans to launch a 2020 Qualified Opportunity Fund.
“The 2020 Qualified Opportunity Fund takes advantage of the strong pipeline of projects we continue to see in Opportunity Zones,” says Clark Spencer, senior vice president of Investments at Grubb Properties. “As a matter of fact, four of our multifamily projects were in Opportunity Zones before the laws even passed.”
“The strategy for the 2020 QOF is a continuation of the 2019 fund strategy which is primarily built around Grubb’s multifamily development projects under the company’s Link Apartments brand in Washington, DC and Winston-Salem, N.C.
“The Link Apartments brand provides highly innovative, amenitized, and efficient urban housing in desirable living areas to help fill the growing housing gap,” explains Spencer. “We try to “write down” the total cost of the project to be the most affordable the project can be.”
For example, Grubbs acquires multifamily properties built in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s that were constructed on what was then the edge of town and now is a central location. These properties are usually good investments and have great surface parking which can be used for oce parking during the weekdays and then operate as residential parking after-hours and on the weekends as these multifamily properties are usually located in the same space as the oce building, Spencer tells GlobeSt.com.
For instance, the office building in which Spencer works was initially Reverend Billy Graham’s farm located on the edge of town. “Now it’s an office building 10 minutes from the center of town,” he says.
The 2019 Grubb QOF has five acquisitions to date, comprising commercial properties in Chapel Hill, NC, Alexandria, Va., and Columbus, Ohio, as well as multifamily development projects in Washington, DC and Winston-Salem, NC.