Goldman Sachs' Urban Investment Group and L&M Development Partners Inc. are launching a new urban opportunity investment fund through the formation of GSLM Capital Partners LLC. The purpose of the fund is to identify and invest in urban development opportunities throughout the New York Metropolitan Area, the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic regions and California.
The fund will focus on investments in mixed-income housing development, land acquisition in urban areas, partnerships with local community-based development groups, and partnering in businesses with a mission of socially responsible development, according to a prepared company statement. With investments ranging from $2 million to $20 million of equity, the fund will target projects that provide affordable and work-force housing and community-serving retail in New York City and other dense and ethnically diverse markets around the country.
Alicia Glen, managing director of Goldman Sachs UIG, tells GlobeSt.com that the firm has been doing business with L&M for a while now and this fund further expands their relationship. "We are doing six projects with them right now, some of which are in various stages of development or predevelopment," she notes.
"We share a very strategic approach to urban investing and are taking the relationship to the next level," she explains, noting that the synergy is perfect between the two—as far as how they want to use their collective capital to rebuild and revitalize underserved transitioning neighborhoods—is in tune. Although Glen says, that they cannot disclose specific projects the partnership is looking at, as of yet, she did note that there are a bunch that are in the pipeline that will go into the fund, which she says will cap out at $100 million--$90 million from Goldman and $10 million from L&M.
Glen notes that they are looking into areas with opportunity for revitalization such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, DC, and Philadelphia, for example and other smaller cities such as New Rochelle, NY and Newark. She notes that the fund will be invested in a three- to four-year period.
Among the projects that the groups have successfully worked together on is the Kalahari on 116th Street in Harlem. The Kalahari is a mixed-income home ownership project being constructed here. Occupancy of the 250 condominium unit, mixed-use "green" building is expected in the third quarter of 2008.
"We are very excited to enter into this new relationship with Goldman Sachs," says Ron Moelis, CEO of L&M Development Partners, in a prepared statement. "We think that by combining L&M's outstanding reputation and creative approach to affordable and mixed use market rate housing, with UIG's strong national reputation, we will be able to leverage our already successful partnership into new markets and into new ventures."
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