Belay Anchors Urban Vision Fund with $100M in Equity

Belay Investment Group is anchoring Primestor Development’s Urban Vision Fund I with a $100M equity commitment, with an addition $25M in equity coming to the fund from LGT Capital Partners.

Belay, a Los Angeles based women-owned and led real estate investment management firm, has more than $900M of assets under management, primarily on behalf of a large California based pension plan. LGT is a leading alternative investment specialist with more than $85B in assets under management and more than 600 institutional clients in 43 countries.

The Urban Vision Fund I will seek to develop and acquire transit-oriented, mixed-use real estate investment opportunities in underserved urban communities with a geographic focus on California.

Primestor has been investing in real estate in urban communities characterized by density, high-growth and limited access to essential goods, services and housing. Through its local-hire strategy, Primestor has created more than 14,000 jobs with an estimated economic impact of $1.3B activity in historically overlooked communities, the company said.

“Throughout the due diligence process, we’ve been impressed with the team at Primestor. Their thoughtful and disciplined approach to real estate development and investing provides significant social and economic impact to historically overlooked Latino and Black communities while also focusing on delivering returns to institutional investors,” said Eliza Bailey, CEO of Belay, in a statement.

“Primestor’s mission and their deep-rooted engagement and collaboration in the communities they serve resonates deeply with our team,” she said.

Belay, along with its partner Birtcher Anderson & Davis, recently announced the sale of a 170K SF two-building cold storage project, including a Cooler/Freezer building located at 1101 and 1115 E 23^rd Street, Fort Worth, TX for $17.8M.

in June, Belay announced the appointment of Bailey, Managing Principal, as CEO and Chief Investment Officer of the firm, and Amy Ko, Managing Principal, as Chief Operating Officer. Barry Chase, who has stepped down from his role as CEO, is being named Executive Chairman.

According to its website, Belay focuses on generating compelling risk-adjusted returns by investing in small-to-middle market transactions that are less competitive and often off-market.

The company focuses select US markets that are supply constrained with durable demand drivers and in specific property types that benefit from local market trends. Belay actively invests in both the equity and credit real estate markets.