Alec Ludwig, 28
Vice president of acquisitions at Thor Equities
Alec Ludwig arrived in commercial real estate from investment banking, where he focused on life sciences and other health care properties.
“It was your classic working-all-night type of gig,” Ludwig said. “It wasn’t the best time of my life from the enjoyment perspective, but the training was something that you can’t even emphasize how valuable it was.”
The diligence set up Ludwig for a 2018 move to ownership and investment company Thor Equities nearly five years ago. “I had always been fascinated by real estate,” he said, “and wanted to move into the private equity real estate side.”
The George Washington University business administration graduate with a New York University master’s in real estate investment and finance found Thor “a very entrepreneurial place.” Basically, plug in and go after the requisite training, which is exactly what Ludwig did on the acquisitions side. A little more than a year into the job, Thor tasked him with sourcing buys, primarily in the industrial space.
Talk about stars aligning. The capital markets were a boisterous place of low borrowing costs; and, unbeknownst to all, a pandemic was about to drive an already healthy industrial market into frenzied growth mode behind an e-commerce boom.
“The industrial real estate industry is just the physical footprint of the supply chain, so understanding the supply chain is critical,” Ludwig said.
Ludwig said he brought himself up to speed on the logistics of that process, including through a certification in global supply chain management from Penn’s Wharton School. The most notable deal he’s tackled since getting the industrial nod was Thor’s $35 million acquisition out of bankruptcy of a multi-
building complex in Long Island. Thor closed the deal in May and plans to redevelop the site, which was delivered vacant.
That deal took years of pursuit and planning. It reinforced the Great Neck, N.Y., native’s deliberative approach, one he said he honed in part by reading up on the late investment tycoon Sam Zell.
“When others are running away from the ball, you run to the ball,” Ludwig said. “Keep your eyes on the fundamentals, not the noise around it. Capital markets change but market fundamentals don’t.”
