King Street Capital Management, a New York-headquartered investment manager with $21 billion in assets, has hired Mark Van Zandt to join its real estate team as a managing director, PERE has learned.
Van Zandt previously worked at BentallGreenOak, serving as managing partner and portfolio manager for BGO’s US value-add funds. Before joining BGO’s predecessor firm GreenOak in 2010, he was a vice-president at Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing for eight years.
King Street partner David Walch told PERE that Van Zandt’s experience in all facets of the real estate space meant his skill set was complementary to King Street’s existing team.
“Mark has been involved in creating a new set of funds. He has been involved in helping build a business that was de novo at GreenOak,” Walch said. “He’s also had extensive experience in terms of sourcing transactions in the US.”
Van Zandt is being hired alongside two undisclosed new recruits. King Street hopes the addition of Van Zandt can help to drive the growth of the firm’s real estate business, which has about $3 billion in AUM and deployed around $1 billion last year, Walch said. King Street is raising its third dedicated real estate fund, King Street Real Estate Fund III, according to the PERE database, and can also deploy capital out of its other diversified vehicles.
Van Zandt will also join King Street’s real estate investment committee alongside Walch, helping to shape the next wave of deployment. The firm is targeting special situations arising from covid-related dislocation, including mezzanine loan and preferred security investments, as well as traditional equity plays.
Recent investments include financing the refurbishment of the Danieli Hotel in Venice, Italy, and a portfolio of studio properties in Los Angeles and New York. Studio properties continue to be an area of focus for the firm, as well as the for-rent and for-sale residential sectors, including multifamily and single-family, Walch said. He added that Van Zandt’s expertise in single-asset and portfolio transactions will broaden the firm’s investment capabilities.
In Europe, King Street will target smaller logistics properties. Walch added that senior and student housing also make sense in key markets experiencing positive demographic trends and minor dislocations due to the pandemic. The firm’s real estate investment strategy has always responded to the market, with King Street changing its investment focus with each cycle, he said.
The firm began investing in private real estate, both equity and debt, around 2010. Its real estate team of now 13 people is overseen by Walch.
King Street Capital Management is not to be mistaken with King Street Properties, the Boston-based life sciences specialist.
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