Chad Pike’s new firm Makarora has launched a maiden private equity real estate fund carrying the flexible hallmarks of the tactical opportunities business he led while at Blackstone, the New York-based mega-manager.

According to an investment presentation, obtained by PERE, New York-based Makarora is seeking $1.5 billion for its Makarora Real Estate Special Situations Fund. The capital will be deployed via three strategies, spanning a variety of investment types and risk and return profiles.

The first was characterized as “yield” with typical deals including “higher-yielding, performing credit with a conservative basis, attractive cash yield and downside protection,” according to the presentation.

The second was characterized as “hybrid/structured” with typical deals including “structurally preferred investments with yield, attractive basis, reasonable downside protection and upside potential.”

And the third strategy was labelled as “opportunistic,” with typical deals including “distressed credit, platform, and equity investments with opportunistic basis and upside potential.”

The overall blended return from the strategy was expected to be approximately mid-teens net IRRs.

The fund launch bucks a broader trend in private real estate capital markets where increasingly vehicles are introduced with more limited investing parameters and more clearly defined strategies than they had in the previous market cycle.

But while such flexibility is rare in private real estate, it marks something of a continuation for Pike, who co-founded Blackstone’s tactical opportunities business in 2012, growing it via three funds, acquiring real estate alongside acquisitions in other asset classes in the process.

Pike: going for three types of investments with his firm’s debut vehicle

Nonetheless, despite the firm’s stated flexibility, Makarora Real Estate Special Situations Fund is expected to be weighted more towards the “yield” strategy at the outset, given the market’s currently constrained credit environment, according to a source familiar with the presentation. “Hybrid/structured” investments also are anticipated to feature, but to a lesser extent, and there is likely to be fewer “opportunistic” deals still until later in the cycle. According to the source, subsequent funds should feature more equally spread weightings between the three strategies.

Per the presentation, the fund has an investment period of four years and a subsequent term five years from the end of the investment period.

One private real estate capital advisory professional, who declined to be named, said Makarora’s bid for a flexible mandate for its maiden fund was possible given the high profile of Pike and the performance track record of the Blackstone businesses he led. Indeed, since its inception in 1995, the giant Blackstone Real Estate Partners fund series has generated a 16 percent net IRR and 2x equity multiple.

“Fundraising is very difficult for anyone today and the better you can frame the opportunity to plan to pursue as a GP, the higher your chances to find backers,” said the advisory executive. “That said, there is a small number of individuals who can demand a higher degree of freedom based on their prior achievements and he might well be one of them.”

PERE revealed last month Pike’s plans to return to the private real estate sector, which he left to start Blackstone’s tactical opportunities business. Prior to that, he co-led Blackstone’s real estate group between 2005 and 2011, alongside current president Jon Gray.

Makarora declined to comment.