Jamestown Launches Opportunistic Fund, Makes First Investment

NEW YORK CITY-Jamestown has launched a new fund that will focus on more opportunistic real estate ventures. “This is a huge departure for us. We’re looking for different things now,” Jeff Ackemann, managing principal, told GlobeSt.com. “Opportunities that have a little more risk, a little more return.”

To that end, Jamestown CoInvest IV has made its first investment. The Atlanta-based firm invested $10.5 million in Novare Group’s Sky Point in Tampa, FL and Avenue development in Charlotte, NC. Both projects are under construction. Sky Point, which will have 380 units and 10,500 sf of retail space, is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2007. Avenue is a 36-story tower that will have 386 units and 6,700 sf of retail. It should be completed in the spring of 2007. Additional investments are expected in Raleigh, NC, Charleston, SC and Atlanta, Ackemann added.Jamestown’s next step is to start raising capital for the fund. The firm expects to raise up to $200 million within the next 18 months. It will be marketed principally to German individuals. Ackemann pointed out that the firm’s previous 26 funds have focused on core assets in markets such as New York City, Boston and San Francisco. With this new fund, the firm can seek out opportunities with varied product types in many markets. “We’ll consider residential, medical/office, office, industrial and retail. It allows us the luxury of looking in markets we want to be in.”