CA Ventures Launches Industrial Division

By Barbra Murray

JJ Smith, principal, CA Ventures

CA Ventures is making a huge commitment to the industrial sector. The real estate investment holding company just launched a new division, CA Industrial, which will focus on speculative development and acquisition opportunities across the country. With an initial investment budget of $500 million, the new division will target logistics and distribution property types over the next five years. 

Sean Spellman, chief development officer of CA Ventures, will helm CA Industrial along with industry veteran Jim McGill, who came aboard in the role of executive vice president of CA Industrial. “We employ one of the most talented development teams in the industry, and with the right platform leaders in Sean Spellman and Jim McGill, who combined have constructed over 30 million square feet of industrial, the time is right to broaden our repertoire,” JJ Smith, principal of CA Ventures, told Commercial Property Executive.

Reading the signs

CA Ventures is one of the most active players in student housing, multifamily and senior living development, having completed in excess of $5 billion in projects within the last eight years. The formation of CA Industrial is a natural progression for the company and a timely move in the market.

The U.S. industrial real estate market is thriving, having recorded growth for eight years straight at the close of 2017. The vacancy rate in the first quarter of 2018 settled in at 4.7 percent and annual rent growth reached 10.5 percent, per a report by real estate firm Transwestern. All signs point to the market’s continued success for the foreseeable future.

“As we’ve learned in our other business lines, millennial and senior housing demands will continue to increase which will further elevate demand for industrial space,” Smith said. “With experience in almost every major MSA in one of CA’s other business lines, we intend to capitalize on prior relationships to unlock opportunities and efficiently build out the CA Industrial platform.”

CA Industrial is already working with partners to source opportunities. The division is focusing on the central U.S., for starters. Sharing additional details, Smith revealed, “CA Industrial is actively pursuing several opportunities throughout the greater Chicagoland area along major transportation corridors along with a handful of other midwestern major MSAs.”

Image courtesy of CA Ventures