In the wake of its 2007 merger with asset manager NNN Realty Advisors, Inc., Santa Ana, Calif.-based commercial real estate firm Grubb & Ellis is launching a new line of service — wealth management. The firm's subsidiary, Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors, LLC, will now offer high-net-worth private individuals and cash-flush corporations the opportunity to acquire and manage real estate properties wholesale, as opposed to purchasing a stake in a tenants-in-common vehicle.
The wealth management services will span across all property types and all geographic regions, with investors having the opportunity to purchase either a single property or a diversified portfolio, with or without the benefit of a 1031 exchange. The minimum investment will start at $15 million.
“Our clients can leverage our institutional caliber-platform, from our acquisitions and due diligence expertise, to arranging debt through our financing relationships, to closing and strategic asset management during the ownership cycle,” says Jeff Hanson, president of Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors. “For them, it's a zero management process.”
Grubb & Ellis has already started working with several clients on portfolio acquisitions. Among them is a major national corporation that now has 14 properties secured under a letter of intent and a private individual that is looking to buy assets worth $82 million.
The firm won't put a cap on the maximum value of a property. On average, however, Grubb & Ellis Realty Investors transactions range between $25 million and $35 million, says Hansen.
Grubb & Ellis currently oversees a commercial real estate portfolio valued at more than $5.4 billion and has closed $7 billion in acquisitions between January 2005 and September 2007.