American Realty Advisors
American Realty Advisors is an investment advisor registered with the SEC and a provider of real estate investment management services to institutional investors. As of December 31, 2014, the company had over $6.7B in gross assets under management. The company specializes in acquiring assets and providing equity, preferred equity, mezzanine debt, debt, and hybrid debt to primary investors and developers operating throughout the United States, for commercial office, industrial, multi-family, retail and other properties. American's company headquarters is in Glendale, California, and the firm has eight additional offices across the country.
History
American Realty Advisors was founded in 1988 in Glendale, California.
The firm has provided investment management services since its inception through individual client separate accounts and a series of commingled funds since the firm's inception. In November 2003, the company launched an open-end core real estate commingled fund with the goal of creating a portfolio of income-oriented commercial real estate diversified by property type, location, and economic exposure. As of the latest SEC filing in October 2014, this portfolio had grown to net assets of over $3.9B, and contained 149 properties nationwide, comprising approximately 24.4 million square feet of office, retail, industrial, and residential space.
In December 2009, American launched a value-added fund which focuses on office, industrial, multi-family and retail properties.
The company has undertaken several industrial developments, the largest of which was a 29 acre site in the San Francisco Bay area, which was developed into the largest industrial warehouse ever built in the Bay Area. The project was developed in partnership with McShane Companies/Conor Commercial. It has stated plans to continue to invest in markets and assets that offer the potential for superior, long-term income growth and that are competitively located in markets that can provide a favorable rent growth environment.
Services
The company offers real estate-based investment platforms for institutional investors. These equity and debt investment strategies focus on core, enhanced core, and value-added commercial real estate. It invests in institutional-quality office, industrial, retail, multi-family, and other property types on behalf of clients, either directly or through participation in joint ventures and/or debt structures. The company's stated investment goal is to achieve attractive risk-adjusted returns consistent with stability and preservation of capital. Target markets the company has identified for investment include major "innovation hubs" such as NY City, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Washington DC and the Los Angeles/Orange County Metro area.
Its investors include a broad range of public employee retirements systems, Taft-Hartley and corporate pension funds, foundations, endowments, and other institutional investors.
The company also offers a range of advisory and asset enhancement programs, as well as portfolio management for properties managed on behalf of its clients.
Operations
In addition to its headquarters in Glendale, California, American Realty Advisors operates offices in Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Connecticut, San Francisco, and Orange County, California, with additional marketing offices in Orlando, Florida and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Sustainability/green initiatives
The company has a focus on sustainability for its commercial real estate portfolio, and is recognized as a Premier Member of Certification Nation by ENERGY STAR, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program. As of January 2015, the firm had 37 LEED-certified properties.
In December 2014, the firm launched additional sustainability initiatives encompassing energy and water conservation, and recycling programs. The company expects these sustainability efforts to boost asset value and net operating income for its real estate assets.
Work with union pension funds
American works with labor unions and contractors/management to invest in commercial real estate development projects and other real estate assets seeking to achieve solid investment returns on behalf of their related pension plans, as well as to enhance the opportunity for the creation of local jobs for active union members.
QPAM.com knowledge resource
The company operates the QPAM.com web site offering research and educational resources AbOUT the role of a qualified professional asset manager (QPAM) to act on behalf of trustees of pension plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) who include real estate as part of their asset allocation strategy.
Charitable foundation
American Realty Advisors has established the American Realty Advisors Charitable Foundation as a means for the company and its employees to support community and national programs and partnerships. The company, directly and through its foundation, supports a wide variety of organizations that promote education, healthcare, diversity, and economic development.