WHI Real Estate Partners V Raises $385M

David Rosenbaum, Managing Principal, WHI Real Estate Partners LP. Photo by Andrew Collings, courtesy of WHI Real Estate Partners LP

Roughly 18 months after launching WHI Real Estate Partners V LP, WHI Real Estate Partners LP has announced the final closing of the fund with capital commitments totaling $385 million.

The investment vehicle, the fifth in a series of fully discretionary, private investment funds, surpassed its $325 million target by a full $60 million.

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“We were pleased—but not really surprised—by the success of this fundraise, notwithstanding the logistical challenges created by the pandemic,” David Rosenbaum, managing principal with WHI Real Estate Partners LP, told Commercial Property Executive.

“A number of our longstanding limited partners committed substantially more to Fund V than they had to our prior fund, and we added a number of outstanding new partners as well.” Fund IV completed its final closing in March 2018, having exceeded its $250 million target with $285 million of capital commitments.

Fund V attracted investments from a wide range of investors, including university endowments, foundations, health-care systems, wealth management firms and family offices. The vehicle will mimic the opportunistic investment program of its predecessor WHIREP funds; however, it plans to acquire assets with an aggregate cost of $1 billion to $1.1 billion, compared to the target acquisition range of $750 million to $850 million for Fund IV.

Open mind

The pandemic has caused a shift in the commercial real estate market over the last year, yet Fund V will invest in the same asset types as its predecessor funds, targeting a range of industrial, residential, hotel, office and other properties throughout the U.S.

Jim Orth, Managing Principal, WHI Real Estate Partners LP. Photo by Andrew Collings, courtesy of WHI Real Estate Partners LP

“We try to be very nimble in any investment environment, and we’re always evaluating opportunities across a broad range of property sectors and geographic markets,” Jim Orth, managing principal with WHI Real Estate Partners LP, told CPE. “At the moment, some of the most interesting situations we see are in the industrial, apartment and hotel sectors, but it’s likely that our focus will evolve over the course of this fund’s investment period.”

Fund V is approximately 16 percent invested to date. Initial investments include Capital Collective, a 154-unit luxury apartment development in the historic district of Savannah, Ga. The Fund invested in the asset in a joint venture with Two Capital Partners. In South Reno, Nev., Fund V partnered with McKenzie Properties on a 530,000-square-foot, six-building industrial development. Other investments include multifamily communities in Naples, Fla., and metropolitan Washington, D.C.

PJT Park Hill, an entity of PJT Partners Inc., acted as exclusive placement agent to Fund V, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP provided WHIREP with counsel on the final closing.