Objectives
The objectives of the Funds will be to achieve superior real estate investment returns through opportunistic asset identification, effective property management, aggressive leasing, market knowledge and execution of redevelopment and repositioning strategies. The Funds will focus on investment in existing income producing properties, including fee interests, ground leases and mortgage interests that present significantly less risk than new development projects. Although stabilized, well located properties available at a discount may become available, the Funds will seek well located properties that can be redeveloped and repositioned to create maximum value. Ideally these projects will cover debt service before any redevelopment or repositioning is completed.
The Funds will seek to invest in properties with a maximum market value of $7,000,000 to $12,000,000, which level provides the opportunity to earn significant higher returns. Properties in this price range are often overlooked by the large, national real estate firms and funds because it is generally inefficient for these types of real estate investors to build a portfolio of many smaller properties given their significant investment needs.
Investment Rationale
ICA believes an investment in the Funds provides the following benefits:
- Attractive Acquisition Opportunities. ICA believes it will have access to favorably priced real estate investments as a result of its focus on smaller properties in markets with improving fundamentals and its relationships within the real estate and lending community.
- Credibility and Scale. The amount of capital that ICA expects to have available to invest, combined with the depth and breadth of its operating team, gives the Fund substantial credibility as a buyer and seller in the marketplace.
- Favorable Financing. ICA expects to be able to secure favorable financing as an “institutional” borrower due to its size and the relationships the principals of ICA have established in the lending community.
- Efficiency and Flexibility. ICA believes the Fund creates an efficient vehicle for purchasing multiple smaller assets with lower offering and organizational costs per transaction as compared to single-asset investment entities.
- Portfolio Disposition Opportunities. ICA will have the option of selling the Properties in one or more portfolios, which may result in favorable pricing as compared to stand-alone dispositions.
Property Value and Leverage
The Funds will focus on income producing commercial properties with value in the approximate range of $7,000,000 to $12,000,000. ICA anticipates a capital structure that will include approximately 60% first mortgage financing, 20% second mortgage financing and 20% equity. First mortgage interest rates are expected to be obtained for the properties at prevailing market rates.
Property Type
The Funds will target medical office, office, retail, multifamily, parking, warehouse and industrial properties for the Funds. The Funds will not invest in raw land, single family homes, condominiums, hotels, or nursing homes. The properties will be similar in type to the properties for which the ICA loan trusts have provided debt for since 2003.
Target Markets
The Funds will focus primarily, but not exclusively, on properties located in the central Midwestern markets including northeastern Illinois (primarily the collar counties surrounding Chicago as well as Chicago proper), southeast Wisconsin, northwest Indiana and southwest Michigan. Chicago is the dominant market in this region and will naturally be a primary focus of the Funds. It offers an excellent transportation system, a well-educated labor force, a diverse economy and virtual unlimited access to fresh water. The metropolitan area’s excellent commuter transportation system supports a large number of traditional suburban downtown communities and provides excellent transit oriented development opportunities. Chicago has successfully shed its reliance on manufacturing and has developed a diversified service oriented economy. From an investment standpoint Chicago has not experienced the dramatic boom and bust development cycles that have characterized some other markets. Also, in recent years many large and small institutional investors have focused on major global gateway cities (New York, Washington D.C, Miami, San Francisco and Los Angeles). This lack of focus on Chicago presents excellent opportunity for investors with intimate knowledge of the market. ICA has over 30 years of real estate investment and development experience in the Chicago market.
To provide diversification, the Funds will pursue investment opportunities outside of the Chicago metropolitan area. The principals of ICA will identify opportunities through their extensive network of professional colleagues and correspondents.
Permitted Investment Criteria
The Funds will pursue only select fund property investments that meet the following investment criteria:
- Approximately 75% of the properties will be located in Illinois (primarily the collar counties surrounding Chicago as well as Chicago proper), southeast Wisconsin, northwest Indiana and southwest Michigan
- No property will be raw land, single family homes, condominiums, hotels, or nursing homes
- Loan-to-value ratio of each property does not exceed 80%
- On a case by case basis, the Funds may deviate from these guidelines upon receiving approval from the investor group, but in no event shall the loan-to-value ratio of a property exceed 85% or the amount of a second mortgage loan exceed 70% of the amount by which the fair market value of the property exceeds the first mortgage loan on the property.
Innovative Capital Advisors History
ICA was started in 2003 to offer investors access to the commercial mortgage loan market. As of September 2013, ICA had originated more than $400,000,000 in loans in 41 states.