$500M Industrial Fund Closes; Brings Black Salmon’s Investment Fund Total To 3/4 Of A Billion Dollars

Black Salmon – a national real estate investment and development firm based in Miami – closed its industrial fund for the acquisition and development of industrial properties across the U.S. with investment capacity of approximately $500 million. The industrial fund intends to identify and make investments over the next 24 months with various operating partners. This announcement comes on the heels of Black Salmon closing a $250 million multifamily fund, and interest resulted in exceeding the firm’s goals for the industrial fund raise.

The firm’s investment strategy focuses on merchant build, opportunistic development, and value-add opportunities across the entire US supply chain – distribution warehouses, industrial infrastructure assets, and cold storage – in strategic markets throughout the United States, including those concentrated near distribution hubs, such as coastal and inland ports and railways.

“Black Salmon’s acquisition strategy as a company is centered on the diversification of investments based on our extensive market insight. Together with partner LarrainVial, we plan to continue developing strategies to provide our Latin American and European investors access to the U.S. real estate market,” said Jorge Escobar, managing partner and Co-CEO of Black Salmon.

In partnership with InLight Real Estate Partners, the fund has seeded with investments located in key industrial markets in the Sunbelt region:

• A 50-acre development site less than five miles from the Port of Savannah, Ga. with plans to construct a Class A truck terminal and transload facility.
• A multi-phased development project along I-85 northeast of Atlanta for a Class A distribution warehouse in one of the most active industrial submarkets in Atlanta and adjacent to SK Innovation, a multi-billion-dollar electric car battery manufacturer that recently completed a 2.4 million-square-foot plant.
• A 22-acre development site in a major industrial submarket in Atlanta’s I-75 corridor with plans to build two rear load industrial buildings.

Demand for industrial assets pre-dates the pandemic due to the expansion in logistics and distribution which has continued to increase and is now outpacing supply. A recent CBRE Research study found that for each incremental $1 billion growth in e-commerce sales, an additional 1.25 million square feet of distribution space is needed for support.

“The disruption in the supply chain caused by continued growth of e-commerce has created unique and compelling opportunities for investment,” said Stephen Evans, managing director of Black Salmon and portfolio manager for the fund.

 

“Consumer behavior is changing, and the demand for products at a rapid rate has created a need for more and efficient warehouse space. Now, through our firm’s expansion into the industrial asset class, we are providing our investors with an opportunity to participate in a sector showing exponential growth,” added Camilo Lopez, managing partner and Co-CEO of Black Salmon.

Black Salmon has amassed a two-billion-dollar acquisition and development portfolio, including office, industrial, hotel, multifamily, and senior housing properties in major metros, such as San Francisco, Miami, Austin, Orlando, Atlanta and Phoenix, along with a large development pipeline in South Florida.