Parmenter launches $500m fund

A year and a half after closing on its fourth fund, Parmenter Realty Partners is back in the market with its latest value-added real estate fund, Parmenter Realty Partners Fund V. Parmenter declined to comment, but PERE understands that the Miami-based firm has soft-circled a first close for early April.

Parmenter is targeting $500 million for the new fund. If the firm is successful, the vehicle would be nearly double the size of its predecessor, Fund IV, which closed on $253 million in commitments and $51 million in co-investment and joint venture capital in 2012. That fund, which was nearly 40 percent drawn at the time of its final close, is now said to be 80 percent to 90 percent invested or committed.

Fund V would pursue a similar strategy to the previous funds in the series and acquire distressed urban high-rise office properties in primary cities in the Southwest, Southeast and Washington DC metropolitan area, including Houston, Dallas and Atlanta. Parmenter’s value-added funds historically have targeted net returns of more than 15 percent, and previous limited partners have included King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Investment Management, Stanford Management, Hewlett Foundation and Exelon Corporation.

Separately, Parmenter has hired Michael Loftis as a managing principal, responsible for the firm’s acquisitions, dispositions, development, leasing, management and asset management in the Southwest. He joined Parmenter this week and will be based in the firm’s Dallas office.

Prior to Parmenter, Loftis was senior portfolio manager for the Americas investment team at Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and just returned to the US on February 1. At ADIA, he oversaw sourcing, planning, negotiation and execution of property acquisitions; portfolio management; and dispositions for the sovereign wealth fund’s US direct portfolio. Before ADIA, he served as president and chief executive of Presidio Investments, a Dallas-based limited partnership with Hunt Realty.

“With ADIA, Mike obviously made some significant investments in the States,” said Andrew Weiss, Parmenter’s chief operating officer. “Plus, he’s a Dallas resident and knows the Southwest markets cold.”

At Parmenter, Loftis succeeds Steve Bronner, who was named vice chairman of the firm, a newly created role. “With the firm now targeting two-thirds of the country, it was an opportunity to have Steve utilize his expertise and his experience throughout the entire company and not just focus his abilities on the Southwest,” said Weiss. “Strategically, as the firm grows, it’s helpful to have a person that has knowledge of each of our markets, partly for continuity and partly for checks and balances.”

Parmenter, which was founded by Darryl Parmenter 25 years ago, has been on a hiring spree as of late. In January, the firm hired Jeffrey Granoff, formerly of Clairvue Capital Partners, as chief financial officer, also a newly created post.