Following the success of its previous fund, US Fund III will primarily target US west coast real estate opportunities, with an emphasis on creative office and hospitality assets as well as platform investments with attractive risk-adjusted returns. The key geographical regions will include the Bay Area, Southern California and the Pacific Northwest. Gaw Capital has approximately 30 professionals based in the US with the majority based in Los Angeles, which is the US headquarters.
Goodwin Gaw, Chairman and Managing Principal of Gaw Capital Partners, said, “The US west coast continues to be a hive of youthful entrepreneurial spirit and innovation, creating an abundance of long-term redevelopment and repositioning opportunities in the local real estate market. Gaw Capital’s reputation for identifying niche trends within emerging real estate segments, and its ability to revitalize underutilized properties, not only delivers healthy and profitable returns for investors, but fulfils an appetite among local entrepreneurs for out-of-the-box concepts for their flexible and creative workspaces.”
US Fund III attracted commitments from investors who had previously invested with Gaw Capital in previous funds, as well as new investors. The makeup of the Limited Partners base is approximately 45% from the US and 55% international.
The closing of Gaw Capital US Fund III also comes at a time when the firm is projecting to fully realize its first product for the US market, DPUSF I (“US Fund I”), with a 28% IRR and 2.0x EM. This vehicle was closed in 2012 after raising US$110 million, and has made a number of successful investments including Courtyard Marriott, Sacramento, CA; Soho House, Chicago, IL; and One Kansas City Place, Kansas City, MO.
