Investment Strategy
Rockledge Ventures, LLC focuses on value-add and opportunistic acquisitions of underutilized and undervalued assets in New York City and New Jersey.
Our investment strategy is based on intensive market research, broad sourcing capabilities, comprehensive due diligence, thorough underwriting, disciplined pricing, detailed financial management and aggressive hands-on value enhancement. This wide range of skills and functions is particularly suited to workout, distressed and turnaround situations where our experience, extensive relationships, and track record position us for success.
We continue to focus our collective energy on identifying, acquiring, repositioning, managing, financing, and ultimately disposing of value-add residential and commercial properties in densely populated markets. Our approach ensures a high level of asset performance relative to the market, and enables us to achieve superior risk-adjusted returns.
Proactive Deal Sourcing
Rockledge has an extensive network of property owners, brokers, developers, attorneys, lenders, special servicers, receivers and other industry professionals. We leverage this network to generate a pipeline of proprietary, off-market investment opportunities.
Target Investment Profile
We target well-located urban properties that are under-performing their potential and can benefit from a value-add approach that positions them for significant long-term income appreciation.
These properties tend to have some or all of the following characteristics:
- Inflated expenses including supplies, payroll, energy costs, taxes and insurance
- Poor management, use of technology and budgeting process/controls
- Low collections
- High vacancies
- Existing tenancies that impede value
- Dissatisfaction among tenant base
- Significant deferred capital expenditures and lack of capital to reposition building
- Existing cash flow that is undervalued
- Inefficient capital structure and/or high cost of debt
- Underutilized square footage or under-built based on zoning
- Not “highest and best use” from tenancy perspective and/or use configuration
- Numerous building violations, failed inspections and lack of regulatory compliance
- Inadequate on-site personnel training and over/under staffed
- Lack of building identity within sub-market or among its target tenancy
- Weak local government relations and image among community leaders
- Underutilization of capable legal resources and channels
As such, these assets are frequently priced at a significant discount to their fundamental, long-term value potential and/or current replacement cost.
Investment Size:
- Average transaction size of $1-$50 million
Hold Period:
- 2 to 6 years
Asset Types:
- Wide range including residential, retail and mixed-use assets
- Single asset investments, portfolio investments and corporate dispositions
- Non-performing and sub-performing real estate loans
- Opportunistic special situations
- Adaptive reuse and urban revitalization projects
Geographic Investment Preference:
- New York City and New Jersey
- Infill or growth market locations with high population density and significant barriers to entry
Rockledge Value-Add:
- Pursue flexible and creative acquisition deal structures
- Navigate the financial, operational and legal complexity often inherent in distressed opportunities
- Pursue flexible and creative acquisition deal structures
- Navigate the financial, operational and legal complexity often inherent in distressed opportunities
- Formulate and implement an action plan to resolve asset-specific issues, including redeveloping, repositioning and/or re-leasing initiatives
- Provide additional capital investment and operational expertise
- Aggressively manage expenses and increase occupancy and collections to maximize cash flow;
- File J51 tax abatements and pursue energy efficiency programs and incentives
- Pursue creative marketing initiatives to “create buzz” within the community and target ideal tenancy
- Utilize a broad, scalable internal platform and organization to overcome impediments to asset-level value creation
- Leverage long-term relationships with government officials, community leaders, attorneys, lenders, suppliers, insurance professionals, architects and other “best in breed” advisors, consultants and resources
- Recapitalize stabilized properties in order to create the most efficient capital structure
