- What Revesco Properties Trust is making a new push to expand its client base
- Why The company is looking to grow its portfolio to US$1bn by 2032
- What next Two retail acquisitions are set to close in October
A Denver-based property trust catering to Canadian investors has kick-started a new fundraising campaign and is under contract for its first acquisitions since taking a pause a year and a half ago, Green Street News can reveal.
Revesco Properties Trust, a perpetual vehicle that launched three years ago, targets open-air retail properties in growing U.S. markets. Its portfolio, spanning 425,000 sq ft, was valued at roughly US$100m (C$136m) as of July 31 — and it’s aiming to grow that to $1bn by 2032.
After sitting on the sidelines for the last 18 months, the company has returned to the market, with deals in place for two centres, in suburban Atlanta and Flagstaff, Ariz., totaling just over US$50m combined. Those transactions are expected to close in October.
The trust is looking to raise about US$20m of equity to close those acquisitions. Revesco has tapped Cushman & Wakefield to assist in the fundraising effort.
Company vice president of strategy and operations Juli Ann Booker said market volatility over the past few years led to the decision to pause dealmaking. Now, with economic circumstances leading to more “good product” on the market, it is ready to jump back in.
“We stood back on the sidelines and waited,” Booker said. “We didn’t want to buy a problem. That’s our first thesis: Never buy a problem.”
All of the trust’s more than 400 clients are Canadian and have made an average investment of US$300,000. Revesco has an office in Vancouver as well.
Investors in Canada are overweight in Canadian investments, Booker said, and the trust offers an opportunity to take advantage of a more dynamic U.S. market.
“Canadian investors can invest in the U.S. [and] have U.S-sourced income without filing a U.S. tax return,” Booker said. “They’re gaining the benefits of the U.S. consumer while still living in a far more conservative country than the U.S.”
The trust’s sponsor, Revesco Properties, was formed 13 years ago by retail property veterans Rhys Duggan, Scott Lee and Christopher Wood. Duggan, who serves as president and CEO, hails from Vancouver and moved to the U.S. in the late 1990s. He was a principal of Southwestern Investment Group.
Lee and Wood have decades of experience investing in retail properties in western Canada and serve as principals of Pacific International Property.
This article was amended at 4 p.m. on Sept. 19, 2024, to change a reference to the company’s pending property deals.
