ALTO Real Estate Funds Completes Moreno Valley Retail Acquisition to Start New Investment Fund

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

ALTO Real Estate Funds has started its second investment vehicle in the American market with a retail purchase in Moreno Valley, CA. The New York-based private equity real estate investment company has closed on the purchase of TownGate Center for a fee of $47.2 million. The property will be the first to be part of the new ALTO FUND 2, the investment vehicle registered in the state of Delaware, and it has a target investment value of $100 million.

TownGate Center is located 55 miles east of L.A. in an intensely trafficked area. Totaling 300,000 square feet of retail space, the property currently features a vacancy rate of nine percent and a tenant roster of long-term retail and dining names such as AT&T, Chipotle, Chase Bank, ULTA, Time Warner Cable, Wells Fargo Bank, TJ Maxx and Dollar Tree. ALTO will put in place a new leasing strategy that is set to bolster rental income by 25 percent during the following five years. 

ALTO financed the acquisition with the use of $15 million of equity and a $32 million loan provided by Deutsche Bank at a fixed interest rate at 4.55 percent.

The ALTO FUND 2 started out with an initial $33 million back in January, with the closing of the final stage of fundraising next month. The fund’s parent company has already invested in 15 different commercial properties, with its current portfolio totaling 2.1 million square feet and a total value of $330 million. The property has sold its stake in six different properties, the most notable being the sale of a Manhattan retail condominium worth $50 million. The fund is currently set to add more deals during the next few months in the California and Colorado markets.   

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