Alcion forms $100m JV to target workout deals

Boston-based Alcion Ventures has joined forces with development and property management company Golub & Company to target real estate debt and equity opportunities.

Alcion Ventures and development and management company Golub & Company have formed a $100 million joint venture to target real estate turnaround and workout deals in the US.

Boston-based private equity real estate firm Alcion will target distressed equity and debt opportunities in both the commercial and residential sectors.

Michael Goldman, Golub senior vice president, told PERE the joint venture was currently casting a “wide net” in terms of sectors and locations, saying: “It is unclear today what the best opportunities are going to be on a risk-reward basis and so we are not limiting ourselves in terms of asset classes, or whether it’s debt or equity investments.”

Alcion and Golub, he said, wanted to be “ready to invest” when the opportunities emerged in the coming months. The joint venture will be leveraged, although Goldman said additional capital can be raised through co-investment opportunities. Alcion is the majority partner, Goldman added.

The development company has traditionally focused on office properties in the metro areas of Chicago, Boston, St. Louis, Phoenix, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington DC. However, Golub has also developed properties in Central and Eastern Europe.

Alcion founder, Martin Zieff, said in a statement that once the US real estate markets started to “trough”, the JV would be able to make “informed decisions … upon which to take advantage of attractively priced risk.”

Alcion was formed by former AEW Capital Management executives Zieff and Mark Potter. Golub has worked with Alcion’s principals for more than 15 years. The firm has also partnered with other private equity real estate firms including Arcapita, BPG Properties, Hudson Realty Capital, Praedium Funds, Starwood Capital Group and Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds.