Former AECOM Capital Real Estate chief executive Warren Wachsberger has branched off to form his own specialized real estate investment firm, Eldridge Acre Partners.
The new Century City-based independent company, formed in partnership with billionaire Todd Boehly’s Connecticut-based holding firm Eldridge Industries, will focus on opportunistic real estate investments on behalf of a global investor base. It will continue to serve as a subadvisor to its former parent company, Dallas-based infrastructure consulting AECOM.
“As AECOM was going through its evolution of moving back to its core competencies of being primarily an engineering and construction firm, there was an opportunity to partner with a group that ultimately ended up being Eldridge (Industries) to effectively spin the business out and continue as sort of the same firm, but under a new umbrella that really enables us to take advantage of the market opportunities,” said Wachsberger, who has brought over his whole team to be a part of the new venture.
Wachsberger said he is confident that Eldridge Acre Partners will be able to generate high returns on investment.
“Our DNA is rooted in a large design, engineering and construction firm,” he said. “As a result of that, a good portion of our team are real estate developers and construction people. And so when we think about how we invest and where we differentiate ourselves, it’s really (about) bringing both capital but also expertise.”
Wachsberger said the firm is “somewhat asset type agnostic,” but its primary focus will be multifamily developments, as well as some student housing, hotels, mixed-use and logistics space projects.
“I think the opportunities right now in the market is that you have a number of developers with stalled projects,” Wachsberger said. “And so us being able to bring capital and expertise to those stalled projects enables us to enter into them at a time where (developers are having a hard time finding capital).”
While projects in Los Angeles are still of interest, Wachsberger and his partners are looking nationwide. Capitalizing on some of the marketplace distress happening, its anticipated investment pipeline could be worth about $3 billion in the next five years, as reported by Bloomberg.
“Warren and the EAP team’s impressive track record of sourcing, developing and managing diverse real estate has laid the groundwork for a successful platform,” Tony Minella, cofounder and president of Eldridge Industries, said in a statement.
Alongside Wachsberger as chief executive, the new firm’s executive committee includes Josh Katzin as chief investment officer, Travis Skelton as managing partner and head of east coast operations, Paul Giorgio as chief operating officer, and Meredith Strongin as managing director and head of asset management.
