Hartford-based Alpha Equity Management has announced a joint venture with Praedium Group of New York City to manage and develop investment products. The joint venture will focus on publicly traded real estate securities.
Alpha Equity, which also has an office in New York City, is an investment management firm with its Hartford office located at State House Square. It manages assets in three public securities categories, including real estate.
Kevin Means, founder and managing partner of Alpha Equity, said the deal started to come together nearly six years ago when he met Praedium president Russell Appel at a real estate conference in 2002.
Praedium is a real estate investor specializing in under-performing assets throughout North America. The company currently has more than $7 billion in assets, including 45 million square feet of commercial space and 55,100 multifamily units.
“They are a direct investor in real estate with their funds, typically with apartments and office buildings,” Means said. “They often thought they should have securities to offer. Frankly, I often thought we needed to have some of our securities in real estate.”
The joint venture will manage two funds — a market neutral fund and a 130/30 fund, a type of specialty fund that allows both long and short positions.
Means said the companies were drawn together because they complement each other.
“From our prospective, we were looking at Praedium’s strong reputation,” he said. “From their prospective, they were looking at our strong performance.”
In a statement, Praedium’s Appel said his company was excited to team with Alpha Equity though its core strategy “continues to be identifying opportunistic, value-added real estate deals.”
Northland Expands Into RI
Newton, Mass.-based Northland Investment Corp., which owns the Hartford 21 apartment tower and other properties in Hartford, has continued its expansion efforts by acquiring a Rhode Island apartment community for $19.65 million.
The acquisition of the Northgate Apartments, a 179-unit community in Middletown, R.I., marks Northland’s initial entry into the state.
In a separate announcement, Steve Witten and Victor Nolletti of Marcus & Millichap Investment Real Estate Services said they were the sole brokers in the deal.
Northland officials have indicated they plan to invest approximately $1.5 million into the complex over the next two years.
“Northgate is a well located asset in an exceptionally high barrier to entry market,” Northland CEO Steven Rosenthal said in a statement.
Trumpf Facility Finished
Diversified Project Management Inc., with offices in Newton, Mass., and Hartford, announced that it has completed its project management services for Trumpf’s new Laser Innovation & Technical Excellence building.
The 83,000-square-foot building was completed for roughly $20 million and will be used to expand Trumpf’s production of laser resonators and develop new lasers. Trumpf expects about 120 employees to staff the new facility.
“This was an exciting project for our team given both its scale and particulars, and the end result is one that we’re extremely proud of,” said DPM president Bob Keeley.
Rocky Hill Renovations
The new owners of the Glenbrook in Rocky Hill have begun a sweeping renovation of the apartment community months after acquiring the property for $35 million.
In September, two New York-based companies — the Robert Martin Co. and Paredim Partners — partnered on the deal for the 400-unit complex.
On May 24, the complex hosted an open house to show off the construction of a new clubhouse as well as comprehensive improvements to the apartments.
“We wanted to provide visitors with an opportunity to tour the property,” said property manager Terri Doyle.
Sean O’Leary is a Hartford Business Journal staff writer.