Wells says that the demand for capital from institutional partnerships, like this, and there are limited general partnerships like this in the market. “We believe that there is a strong need in the market for sponsored capital. There are not very many institutional firms that do this,” he explains. “We are fully committed to being in the space now and forever. We are already seeing tremendous interest, and we have already closed on investments, so the fund is already proving itself in the market.”

The fund has already closed on its first asset, a 140-unit senior housing development in Fort Myers, FL. The $33 million development will break ground in November from developer Fortress Ventures.

The Bascom Group and Milestone Real Estate Partners have formed a joint venture fund that will provide sponsorship to quality sponsors of value-add and opportunistic deals. While Bascom typically focuses on multifamily assets, this fund will invest across asset classes and in markets across the country. The fund will invest $50 million over the next three years.

“We are committed to the value-add and opportunistic space. Bascom tends to have a focus on multifamily assets,” William Wells, founder of Milestone Real Estate Partners, tells GlobeSt.com. “We are willing to invest in multifamily assets because we think that there is enough deal flow throughout the country that we can effectively do both without crossover, but the difference is that Milestone will invest in all asset types and all strategies. We will invest in anything from development where land is unentitled all the way through adaptive reuse, and we will do all asset types.”

Wells says that the partnership is an ideal match. In additional to a positive past relationship between Wells and Bascom's Jerry Fink and David Kim, Milestone will provide the funding for these opportunities while leveraging Bascom's deep industry relationships. “Bascom brings a lot of industry relationships to the table, and those are relationships that we can leverage when we do deals,” adds Wells. “That makes us a more compelling partner to the sponsors that we do deals with.”

The fund's investment across asset classes and in all US markets means that there will be ample opportunities. Milestone is mitigating risk by focusing on the quality of the sponsor. “If we are focused on one thing, it is finding strong sponsorship,” says Wells. “We think that if we properly underwrite the sponsor, then we are able to move across asset types and geographies relying on the expertise of the sponsor.”

Wells says that the demand for capital from institutional partnerships, like this, and there are limited general partnerships like this in the market. “We believe that there is a strong need in the market for sponsored capital. There are not very many institutional firms that do this,” he explains. “We are fully committed to being in the space now and forever. We are already seeing tremendous interest, and we have already closed on investments, so the fund is already proving itself in the market.”

The fund has already closed on its first asset, a 140-unit senior housing development in Fort Myers, FL. The $33 million development will break ground in November from developer Fortress Ventures.