Excelsa Raises $153M for Second Multifamily Fund
Excelsa raised $153 million in equity to close its second U.S. multifamily fund, Excelsa US Real Estate II, Commercial Observer has learned. The fund, launched in January, reached its target of $150 million by the end of March. It drew primarily from family offices and wealthy investors from the Middle East.
Founded by Bassam Yammine, formerly co-CEO of Credit Suisse (CS) for the Middle East and North Africa, Excelsa began investing in multifamily properties in 2009. The firm has acquired more than $420 million in U.S. real estate properties, and its portfolio now includes 2,500 multifamily units as well as office properties and land, according to the company.
“The performance of our first fund has been exceptional with very strong yields distributed quarterly and a significant capital appreciation that we are starting to materialize through several exciting exits in the pipeline,” said Fadi Majdalani, managing partner of Excelsa, in a statement. “We are honored that all of our fund I investors and co-investors have trusted us by joining our second fund and increasing their commitments to Excelsa.”
The new fund will focus on value-add multifamily and core-plus properties across several states, including in the Sun Belt. Excelsa has already deployed more than $27 million of the fund’s equity on Fox Hunt Farms, a 256-unit rental apartment building in the Charlotte area, and Coventry Green, a 276-unit rental in the Charleston, S.C., area in February. These acquisitions were during a pre-launch phase and through bridge loans.
“Our fundraising success highlights the strong appetite for multifamily investments from the Middle East and Gulf states,” Khalil Hibri, head of business development at Excelsa, said in statement. “Our investors seek stable yields and a strong hedge against inflation which U.S. multifamily delivers.”
Update: This story originally misattributed source material. This has been corrected. We apologize for the error.
Emily Fu can be reached at efu@commercialobserver.com.
