Los Angeles, CA – October 14, 2015 – Coretrust Capital Partners, LLC, a private real estate operating company, was selected for inclusion in the Scout Program and has closed its first fund with an initial $200 million equity commitment from Scout Fund II, a fund managed by Hawkeye Partners, LP that aims to back the next generation of real estate investment managers. The fund, Coretrust Value Fund I LP, has the ability to expand to $300 million and will focus on the acquisition of office buildings in major metropolitan markets of the West Coast, Southwest and Mid-Atlantic where Coretrust’s principals, Thomas Ricci, Randall Scott and John Sischo, have significant experience.
Coretrust was identified, vetted and selected by Hawkeye to join its Scout Program, which sources, underwrites and incubates the next generation of real estate investment managers on behalf of several large domestic and international institutional investors. Hawkeye is a leading real estate private equity firm headquartered in Austin, Texas. To date, Hawkeye has raised over $1.3 billion from institutional partners, investing in six new managers, which have in turn grown to over $5.4 billion in real estate-related assets under management.
Formed in 2014, Coretrust brings together the diverse and complementary skills of its principals, who are three original partners of Thomas Properties Group (NYSE:TPGI), to reposition, retenant, develop or redevelop and operate major properties. Coretrust’s principals have a long history of working together, achieving high performance results with properties such as the 2.5 million square foot City National Plaza in Los Angeles, CA, the 1.5 million square foot City West Place campus in Houston, TX, the 2.2 million square foot Commerce Square office complex in Center City Philadelphia, PA, and the 1.0 million square foot California Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters in Sacramento, CA.
“As we transitioned from closing the TPGI merger in December 2013 to forming our new firm in April 2014, a primary goal was to align with an important capital source. We sought an investor that would enable Coretrust to share and leverage its core competencies, deep relationships, and diverse access to deal flow that has been forged over two decades of working with one another,” said Coretrust Managing Principal John Sischo.
“Hawkeye is our ideal partner,” stated Managing Principal Randy Scott. “In addition to providing us with valuable first fund capital, Hawkeye’s sponsorship, endorsement and strategic guidance will help us attract a large institutional following as we grow.”
Managing Principal Tom Ricci added, “We are immensely pleased to have created our first equity fund with this highly respected industry leader and are energized by Hawkeye’s confidence in our team and our ability to implement and execute the investment criteria.”
“The Scout Program is designed to identify the next generation of real estate investment managers. Investors today are faced with the challenges of sourcing in a competitive market and maximizing investment returns,” stated Claudia Faust, Managing Partner of Hawkeye. “Because of the massive consolidation of capital into the hands of relatively few and the subsequent change in how those managers deploy capital, many investors seek new managers and the Scout Program offers them a pathway to safely and effectively invest with entrepreneurial firms who are focused and can nimbly take advantage of unique investment opportunities.
“Coretrust is ideally suited for our program. Its principals are experienced fiduciaries, possess an excellent track record and provide our fund with a management team that is time and cycled tested. We couldn’t be more pleased for our investors,” Faust concluded.