LEM Capital, the Philadelphia-based private equity real estate firm, has hired a former JPMorgan Asset Management executive director to lead acquisitions, co-founder Jay Eisner told PERE.
Chris Potavin, who started at JPMorgan in 2005, will move to LEM in mid-July to focus on originations as a senior vice president. LEM focuses on buying and renovating Class B apartments across the country.
“We’re really excited to have him join,” Eisner said.
A spokesman for JPMorgan could not be reached for comment on Potavin’s departure.
Potavin is joining the firm as it wraps up fundraising for LEM Multifamily Senior Equity Fund IV, which launched in 2015 with a $300 million target and a $400 million hard-cap. The firm has corralled about $225 million of capital for the value-added vehicle to date, with plans to close the fund this summer.
The firm is targeting a 12-15 percent net internal rate of a return for Fund IV. Investors include the Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System, which committed $50 million, and the City of Philadelphia Board of Pensions & Investment, which earmarked $25 million, according to PERE data.
The last purchase made from Fund IV was the December acquisition of Village Park of Palatine, a 448-unit garden apartment in Palatine, Illinois, for $48.3 million, according to data provider Real Capital Analytics. LEM teamed up with two Chicago-based investors, Origin Investments and Draper and Kramer, to buy the 15-building property.
LEM manages $865 million of capital, according to its website.
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