Boston– Wheelock Street Capital, a private real estate investment firm headquartered in Greenwich, Conn. and Boston, in conjunction with The Seyon Group, a Boston‐based real estate investment firm, announced a newly formed programmatic joint venture to acquire industrial real estate assets in prime Northeast markets.
The joint venture commenced with the acquisition of three assets, totaling $32 million, located along the Route 128 corridor in Greater Boston. The Seyon Group, recently formed by Bryan Blake, Andrew Iglowski and John Meador, all formerly of Calare Properties, Inc., pursues real estate investment opportunities varying in size and scope, from ground-up warehouse development to existing infill light-industrial assets. Seyon’s principals have deep experience within the industrial sector, allowing the firm to utilize existing relationships to target actionable opportunities in a select group of markets.
“Seyon was founded with a mission of applying a forward‐thinking approach to industrial sector investment to deliver value for both tenants and investors,” Bryan Blake, Managing Partner at Seyon, said. “Despite today’s competitive landscape, we believe there continues to be opportunity to acquire the right product in highly desirable locations.”
The Wheelock/Seyon partnership was formed to take advantage of market forces increasing the demand for flex/industrial assets located in close-in suburban markets. Two of these primary forces include light manufacturing and flex space users getting priced out of downtown locations, as well as e-commerce/distribution users needing to be closer to their end customers. Wheelock is targeting an allocation of $100 million from its current investment vehicle,
Wheelock Street Real Estate Fund V, for equity investments in the industrial sector.
“We believe there will continue to be growing demand for infill industrial assets in well located submarkets. We like the strategy of owning functional assets in amenitized near‐in submarkets that have good access to transportation and the densely populated core downtowns,” commented Jeffrey Laliberte, Managing Director & Head of Acquisitions at
Wheelock Street Capital. “We have worked with the principals of The Seyon Group for several years and have consistently been impressed with their ability to find attractive investment opportunities and execute on a business plan. This partnership puts us in a strong position to build a high-quality portfolio with a great team.”
The partnership has been active in the investment market since the start of 2017. The partnership’s most recent acquisition, 26 Dartmouth Street in Westwood, MA, closed late February and consists of a 200,000 sq. ft. industrial building conveniently located adjacent to Westwood’s University Station, a mixed-use retail and residential property anchored by a Wegmans and Target. In addition to 26 Dartmouth Street, the firms acquired a portfolio of light industrial buildings on Shawmut Road in Canton, MA aggregating over 100,000 sq. ft.
“Each of these properties were acquired off-market and are highly representative of the strategy we plan to execute with Wheelock,” commented Andrew Iglowski, Managing Partner at Seyon. “There were a number of qualitative aspects we considered when seeking a strategic partner. Wheelock’s ability to move quickly and think creatively were key attributes, and we expect to significantly increase the size of our portfolio with them in the near future.”
