$250M Fund Targets South Florida Developments

Apex Group is the administrator for the investment vehicle.

Miami. Image by Jessica45 via Pixabay

Participant Capital Advisors, a Miami-based real estate investment firm that manages private equity real estate funds, has launched a multifamily development investment vehicle targeting Sun Belt communities with a focus on Florida.

Participant Capital Sun Belt Multifamily Development Fund I has a fundraising target of $250 million. The closed-end private equity real estate vehicle has an eight-year projected term. Allocations from the fund will be primarily aimed at low-rise multifamily projects in the rapidly growing suburbs of Orlando and Tampa along with mid- and high-rise projects in Miami and other major urban centers in South Florida.

Bernie Wasserman, Participant Capital president, said in a prepared statement that U.S. demographics, migration, work from home trends and rising residential costs strongly favor multifamily development in Florida. Major Florida cities are experiencing some of the highest rent, job and economic growth in the country due to ongoing migration to the state. Wasserman said the fund will provide accredited investors with access to these markets through investments in institutional quality multifamily development projects.

Apex Group, a global financial services provider, has been appointed as the fund administrator. Participant Capital selected the firm to provide fund administration services for its Luxembourg domiciled funds last year. Alex Contreras, senior vice president, business development, at Apex Group, said Apex was also recently appointed to provide depositary and banking services for the Luxembourg vehicles through its EDB subsidiary. All of Apex Group’s services will be provided by its Miami office.

Felix Haydar, operations director at Participant Capital, said in prepared remarks that by outsourcing fund administration, depositary and banking requirements to Apex Group, Participant can focus on expanding its real estate fund offerings to a wider range of investors.

Royal Palm Cos. Affiliation

Participant Capital is closely affiliated with Royal Palm Cos., a Miami-based residential, mixed-use and hospitality development firm led by founder & CEO Daniel Kodsi. Royal Palm has developed more than 50 real estate projects over the past 40 years. In December, Royal Palm secured a $76.5 million construction loan from 3650 REIT to refinance the completion of Elevate Apartments, a 293-unit, eight-story multifamily property in Dania Beach, Fla. The property is scheduled for delivery in November. Last year, Royal Palm formed a joint venture with Forest Development to complete Nautilus 220, a 330-unit luxury condominium, mixed-use project in Lake Park, Fla. The Palm Beach County project is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2024.