Redcar Closes $418M Creative Office Fund

Redeveloped 1501 Broadway, Santa Monica, Calif. Image courtesy of Redcar

Redcar, a Santa Monica, Calif.,-based privately held real estate investment company that invests in urban commercial real estate and converts underperforming industrial properties into creative office assets, has closed on Redcar Fund II with $418 million in equity commitments.

Fund II and a co-investment sidecar that will help capitalize the firm’s expansion into Austin, Texas, include investments from endowments, asset managers, private pensions, public pensions, family offices, insurance companies, financial institutions, foundations, wealth managers and high net worth individuals in North America, the Middle East and Europe.

The fund exceeded the size of Redcar’s $412 million Fund I amid a challenging fundraising environment, especially for U.S. office managers, Christopher Chee, co-managing partner, said in a prepared statement. Chee said the firm’s investment strategy includes targeted locations, a unique product type and cautious capital structures that attract continued interest and support from both new and existing investors.

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Fund II currently owns a portfolio of 12 assets across Los Angeles and in Austin’s St. Elmo and South Austin neighborhoods. The firm invests in key high-growth submarkets through funds, joint ventures and co-investments.

Evercore Group LLC acted as global capital advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal advisor for Redcar Fund II and the co-investment vehicle.

Building Redcar

Redcar said Fund I focused exclusively on Los Angeles in high submarkets such as Culver City, Santa Monica, Silver Lake, Frogtown and Chinatown, which are being driven by the expansion of content creation studios, gaming, music, fashion and media companies like Amazon Studios, HBO and Apple. Redcar’s properties in these niche markets have had consistent and strong leasing demand.

Jim Jacobsen, Redcar founder & co-managing partner, said in prepared remarks that since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, tenants have been seeking high-quality office space filled with light and air, well-conceived outdoor areas and detailed design.

Co-Managing Partner Vince Korth said in a prepared statement Redcar has been growing since its inception in 2011 and now has 45 employees across design, construction, investments, leasing/marketing, property management and accounting. Korth said the firm has also been cultivating a group of architects since its founding including Olson Kundig, Selldorf Architects, LEVER, Allied Works, HGA and Breland-Harper.

The firm’s projects include the installation of a solar rooftop at 2341 Michigan Ave., which was the largest solar project in Santa Monica in 2019. Also in Santa Monica, Redcar converted a former industrial paint store at 1501 Broadway into a two-story building with about 11,000 square feet of office and retail space in 2020.

Other projects include development of a 25,450-square-foot creative office building in Culver City that was completed in June 2021 and a 127,000-square-foot retail and office building at 843 N. Spring St. in East Los Angeles that broke ground in the second quarter of 2021. It was among the first office buildings in Los Angeles to have a cross-laminated timber floor system.