Almanac makes largest-ever investment – Exclusive

With its latest deal, the New York-based real estate fund manager has now committed more than half of the capital from its $1.4 billion vehicle.

Almanac Realty Investors has made its largest-ever investment, with a commitment to provide up to $337.5 million of growth capital to Westcore Properties.

Westcore, a San Diego-based real estate company that invests in industrial and office properties in the western US, previously received a $197.7 million investment in 2011 through Almanac’s Almanac Realty Securities (ARS) V. The latest commitment was made through Almanac’s latest vehicle, ARS VII, which raised a total of $1.4 billion last year and now has more than half of its capital committed. With both transactions, Almanac, led by managing partner Matthew Kaplan, has now committed to invest a total of up to $535.2 million of capital to Westcore.

The size of the new commitment is understood to be based on Westcore’s pipeline of opportunities over the next couple of years. Almanac’s last investment in Westcore helped the latter firm expand its business through the acquisition of 23.4 million square feet of industrial and office real estate for an aggregate purchase price of $1.7 billion over the past five years.

The new capital commitment will fund new value-add industrial and office investments for Westcore and support further growth of the organization. Since securing Almanac’s investment, Westcore has purchased or agreed to purchase 2.4 million square feet of properties with an aggregate gross value of $172 million. Last month, the firm bought a 514,169-square-foot industrial portfolio in San Diego from Boston-based TA Realty for approximately $75 million.

“The Almanac professionals are astute capital investors who have contributed greatly to Westcore’s success,” said Don Ankeny, Westcore’s president and chief executive. “We are thrilled to be extending and expanding our relationship with Almanac.”

“Westcore is a strong vertically-integrated company of seasoned real estate professionals with a 30-year track record of providing exceptional returns to its investors,” said Andrew Silberstein, partner at Almanac. “Over the past five years we have experienced firsthand the high caliber and character of this management team, and we are pleased to support the next phase of Westcore’s expansion.”

Established in 2000, Westcore has acquired and managed more than $4 billion in industrial and office assets, comprised of more than 750 buildings encompassing more than 45 million square feet. In addition to its headquarters in San Diego, the firm has regional offices in Oakland; Sacramento; and Denver, Colorado. It has satellite offices in London as well as Lausanne and Geneva, Switzerland.

ARS VII was generating an inception-to-date return of 9.3 percent as of June 30, while the predecessor fund, ARS VI, was returning 17.20 percent, according to the second-quarter performance report from the Employees’ Retirement System of the State of Hawaii.

Almanac, founded in 1981 as Rothschild Realty, has focused primarily on investing in private and public real estate operating companies. To date, the firm has committed or invested approximately $4.1 billion into more than 38 companies in North America.