SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--RealtyShares, a leading online marketplace for real estate investing, has just announced the closing of two industrial real estate financing transactions, highlighting the company’s capacity for faster and easier financing across the capital stack for a range of real estate projects.
In San Francisco, RealtyShares secured an $8.7 million industrial debt loan for a mixed-use, industrial warehouse and office space in the city’s South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood. The company also deployed $1.5 million in a common equity investment for a retail distribution center in Littleton, Massachusetts, 30 miles from Boston in an area that is accessible to several major New England cities.
The San Francisco warehouse investment was structured to include both institutional and crowdfunded capital. The total financing was comprised of $6.6 million from one of RealtyShares’ institutional partners, along with $2.1 million raised via the company’s real estate crowdfunding marketplace.
The property is a 30,000 square foot facility located in San Francisco’s rapidly growing SoMa submarket, an area in high demand for tech office space. This was the first commercial real estate deal in San Francisco for which RealtyShares had sourced debt from an institutional lending partner, and was a unique opportunity for RealtyShares’ network of accredited investors to participate in a commercial real estate transaction in an attractive market.
“ The competitiveness that we're seeing in the San Francisco market today makes this investment opportunity particularly unique," said Nick Fletcher, Associate Director of Commercial Debt Originations at RealtyShares. “We were able to leverage our institutional partnerships to attract a desirable asset with high caliber sponsorship. By doing so, we've given our network of individual investors the opportunity to invest alongside institutional capital, in a quality commercial property that would otherwise be nearly impossible for them to access."
The Massachusetts distribution center investment was sponsored by NOVAYA Real Estate Ventures, an owner/operator of investment real estate in New England. The property is a 480,000 square foot modern distribution facility located northwest of Boston, with access to multiple major cities in the region.
“We’re focused on finding opportunities to acquire properties at an attractive basis, add value and exit in a relatively short time frame,” said James Alden, Principal at NOVAYA. “The shift in retail from in-store to online shopping is changing the face of distribution, with many companies moving their warehouse facilities away from the middle of America and establishing end-of-the-line fulfillment facilities closer to major cities. As a result, we are seeing growth in industrial real estate in New England, with increasing sales and rents coupled with relatively low improvement and leasing costs.”
This transaction was an opportunity for investors on the RealtyShares crowdfunding marketplace to diversify their real estate investment portfolio with an industrial asset in a market that is growing in reaction to shifts in traditional retail.
“To be able to work with a reputable operator such as NOVAYA in a transaction like this highlights both the flexibility and sophistication with which RealtyShares can provide liquidity to sponsors and investors in our crowdfunding marketplace,” said Ashby McElveen, Director or Commercial Equity Investments at RealtyShares. “By leveraging the capabilities of our sponsor partners we’re creating unique opportunities for our investor network to participate in deals that would otherwise not be accessible.”
RealtyShares is bringing marketplace investing and lending to real estate and building an ecosystem around it. By infusing technology into the archaic real estate industry, the company connects investors with pre-vetted real estate operators across the country looking to raise capital. To date, the RealtyShares has deployed more than $500 million over 1,000 investment opportunities on the platform, supporting residential and commercial projects in 39 states.
About RealtyShares
RealtyShares is transforming the real estate investment landscape by connecting borrowers and sponsors to debt and equity capital from accredited and institutional investors, across an array of financing products. Private investments are highly illiquid and risky, and are not suitable for all investors. Through the RealtyShares website, investors can browse opportunities, perform due diligence, invest online and gain 24/7 access to an investor dashboard to watch how their investments are performing. RealtyShares offers securities through North Capital Private Securities Corporation, member FINRA/SIPC. For more information on how to become a real estate investor or to seek capital through the RealtyShares marketplace, please visit www.realtyshares.com.
