NEW YORK — Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P., a global financial services firm and real estate investment company, and Silverstein Properties, Inc., a global full-service real estate development, investment, and management firm, announced the close of Cantor Silverstein Opportunity Zone Trust, Inc. (“CSOZ Trust”), with approximately $530 million of equity raised.
Along with CSOZ Northern Boulevard, LLC, and CSOZ 3.0 University Place, LLC co-investment funds, Cantor and Silverstein have now completed the fundraise for three Qualified Opportunity Zone Funds totaling approximately $600 million of equity.
Launched in mid-2019, CSOZ Trust was formed to invest in, develop, redevelop and manage a diversified portfolio of institutional quality commercial real estate assets with an emphasis on multifamily properties located in Qualified Opportunity Zones in the United States.
CSOZ Trust currently has four development projects underway and a fifth with an executed term sheet. 3.0 University Place is under construction with a planned 246,000 square foot, pre-certified LEED Platinum v4 life science enabled office building located in University City, the heart of Philadelphia’s growing life science and gene and cell therapy ecosystems.
theApex@meadows is a planned 334-unit, two-building multifamily property near the heart of Las Vegas’s medical district, downtown, and the Las Vegas strip. Northern Boulevard is a planned 354-unit class A multifamily property located in the Queens neighborhood of Astoria, just across the East River from Midtown Manhattan, a hotbed of international culture and dining with an established and growing film industry. 420 Carroll Street is a planned 360-unit Class A multifamily property on the east bank of the Gowanus Canal with waterfront access from two sides of the property and part of the larger Gowanus Rezoning District initiative. Yesler Terrace West is a planned 200-unit Class A multifamily property within walking distance of downtown Seattle in the Yesler Terrace Redevelopment Area with views of the Puget Sound.
Collectively, the planned portfolio totals 246,000 square feet of life science property and 1,248 multifamily units, 231 of which are targeted to be affordable, with an estimated total project cost of approximately $890 million.
“We launched our opportunity zone business to drive much-needed capital to communities that would benefit from long-term investment,” said Howard Lutnick, chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P. “Working alongside development partners with critical local market knowledge and an understanding of the impact these projects will make on the overall health of the communities they serve, puts us on track to accomplish our goal.”
“It has been a pleasure working with Howard Lutnick and the greater Cantor Fitzgerald organization,” said Marty Burger, CEO, Silverstein Properties. “The Opportunity Zone Program enabled our businesses to direct capital to areas in need around the country. Our expertise in real estate development and management combined with Cantor Fitzgerald’s national reach and local market knowledge have resulted in committing to several terrific development opportunities.”
Cantor and Silverstein have a longstanding relationship sharing a historical connection to the tragic events of 9/11 at the World Trade Center and played central roles in the recovery that followed. This joint venture partnership is a natural extension of the companies’ shared history and underscores both firms’ commitment to rebuilding.
