WP Realty Begins Round Five With $115M

PHILADELPHIA-WP Realty is at it again. The Bryn Mawr, PA-based opportunistic retail investor has garnered $115 million of equity commitments for its fifth fund, which recently closed on its first acquisition, picking up a small retail center and adjacent land in nearby Devon, PA for approximately $18 million. Company principal Bryan Weingarten tells GlobeSt.com the equity is coming from its pool of high-net-worth investors and its long-time institutional joint-venture partner, BayNorth Capital, which is investing $50 million in the new fund.

Weingarten’s goal is to invest the money over three-to-four years and realize a 20%-plus net IRR to investors over a five-to-seven year hold. His plan is to purchase distressed and otherwise undervalued grocery-anchored properties with a value-add component at a cap rate between 9.5% and 10.5%, add the value and then sell at more normalized cap rates, say 8% to 8.5%.

“And that’s how we’ll make money–on the lower cap rate plus the added value from fixing and leasing,” Weingarten tells GlobeSt.com.