Investors Plan Launch of Urban Initiatives Fund

MIAMI-American Ventures Realty Corp., a national investment and asset management firm based in Coral Gables, is planning to launch the South Florida Urban Initiatives Fund tomorrow. The fund will provide mezzanine capital to qualified urban core project developers. Among the investors in the fund are national banks, foundations and individuals. The fund, the second in a series of such funds nationally, intends to invest in projects that include commercial, industrial, multifamily and mixed-use developments in urban core markets.

An affiliate of American Ventures will act as the fund’s general partner and make the investment decisions for the fund. The company expects most of the fund’s investments to be in the form of mezzanine loans to developers with the ability to manage complex real estate projects. “The launch of these funds places our city in a national leadership role in the creation of innovative ways to leverage private and public resources for public good,” Miami Mayor Manny Diaz says in a statement.American Ventures Realty Corp. is headed by Philip Blumberg. Besides Blumberg and Diaz, the official local launch, planned for noon at the Miami Arena, is expected to be attended by Miami city commissioners Arthur Teele and Johnny Winton, fund participants Wachovia, Citibank, BAC Florida, Union Planters Bank, John S. & James L. Knight Foundation, and the McCune Foundation, as well as other city and county government officials.