GTIS Partners, a global real estate investment firm with $4.7 billion in gross assets under management focused on residential and industrial investments, is pleased to announce the launch of its GTIS Qualified Opportunity Zone Fund II on July 1, 2022. The Fund is open to individual investors through many financial advisors or directly through an electronic subscription service in partnership with +SUBSCRIBE, the leading order management system for alternative product transactions. Unique in the Opportunity Zone space, the Fund is structured as a diversified REIT open to Accredited Investors with a minimum commitment of $100,000 through a securities offering registered on all major custodian platforms.
Fund II is a continuation of the strategy employed by its predecessor GTIS Qualified Opportunity Zone Fund I, which raised $630 million of investor capital and placed among the top five largest Qualified Opportunity Zone (“QOZ”) funds raised to date. Fund I has committed to 15 investments mostly focused on large regional Sunbelt markets across multifamily, single-family rental and industrial property types.
“We are excited to continue our investment strategy utilizing the tremendous tax benefits of Opportunity Zones,” said Tom Shapiro, President and Chief Investment Officer of GTIS Partners. “We believe that residential and industrial fundamentals remain attractive especially in an inflationary environment, and look forward to capitalizing on the opportunities we have in our pipeline.”
Investments in QOZs benefit from the provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that allows tax deferral of capital gains realized from almost any asset, such as the sale of stocks, bonds, cryptocurrency, real estate, or K-1 partnership gains by investing the gains in designated Opportunity Zones. The most significant benefit is the eventual tax forgiveness of capital gains if the investment is held for a minimum of 10 years, provided the investment adheres to the requirements of the QOZ program.
“QOZ tax benefits can provide a very meaningful enhancement to investor returns, and in today’s inflationary environment real estate is one of the best portfolio diversifiers,” noted Peter Ciganik, Head of Capital Markets at GTIS Partners. “But we also believe in the spirit of the QOZ program and look forward to supporting increased economic development in underserved communities, and managing our projects in an environmentally responsible way.”
Since the announcement of the QOZ program, GTIS has successfully completed three development projects located in Opportunity Zones at a total project cost of approximately $460 million. The projects comprise 566 residential units and over 630,000 sq. ft. of commercial space leased to top technology and distribution companies. Five additional projects are currently at advanced stages of construction, with plans for over 700 multifamily units, 200 single-family rental homes, 430 student housing units and over 130,000 sq. ft. of commercial space.
GTIS’ experience in managing and deploying Fund I has provided the firm with significant expertise in QOZ deal sourcing, structuring, execution, and asset management in compliance with the program’s rules. GTIS has worked with premier development partners such as Southern Land, Wood Partners and Ryan Companies to create a diversified fund with a national footprint, in contrast to the single-deal nature of most QOZ offerings. According to Novogradac, QOZ funds tracked by the firm have raised a cumulative $28.4 billion of equity as of March 31, but over two-thirds are single-asset funds rather than diversified pools offering broad real estate exposure such as GTIS.
In making its Accredited Investor offering available on +SUBSCRIBE, GTIS is delivering a seamless digital process for investors looking for exposure to alternative asset classes. Rafay Farooqui, Founder and CEO of +SUBSCRIBE, remarked: “Our alternative investment platform is the bridge between investors and leading asset managers. The digitization of the investment process for alternatives is powering the investor experience toward the new age of technology in wealth management. We are excited to continue our partnership with GTIS in their newest venture.”
GTIS Partners is a leading real asset investment and development firm headquartered in New York with offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Charlotte, Phoenix, Houston, Dallas, as well as São Paulo, Paris and Munich. The firm was founded in 2005 by Tom Shapiro and is managed by President Tom Shapiro and Partners Rob Vahradian, Thomas Feldstein, and João Teixeira. The firm currently has $4.7B in gross assets and is active across a wide range of real estate sectors including single family and multifamily housing, office, industrial/logistics and hospitality as well as opportunity zone investments. The firm invests at various points in the capital structure including credit, common equity and structured equity. In the US, GTIS has invested in over 130 assets across 40 unique markets including growth areas such as Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Denver, Atlanta, Tampa and Charlotte. In Brazil, GTIS is among the largest real assets private equity firms with holdings including office, residential, logistics, and hospitality investments.
For more information, please visit www.gtispartners.com.
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