Brazilian Barons Plan to Pour $1B Into US Real Estate

One of the wealthiest families in Brazil has plans to bulk up its U.S. real estate holdings.

Votorantim SA, a holding company controlled by the Ermirio de Moraes family, is looking to accumulate nearly $1 billion in real estate assets in the United States in the next five years, Bloomberg reported. The company’s property arm, Altre Empreendimentos e Investimentos Imobiliarios SA, has already invested $200 million in equity and loans.

Altre’s holdings are spread across the United States and Brazil, with the U.S. representing 20 percent of its portfolio. Within the U.S., the firm is a presence in markets as far-flung as New York, New Jersey, California, Texas and Colorado. Its chief investment officer is eyeing a 50-50 split between the U.S. and Brazil down the line.

The firm wants to annually deploy between $100 million and $150 million in the United States, focusing largely on properties already built. It is looking to invest through partnerships with institutions and co-investors, holding talks with dozens of real estate companies in recent years that have yielded a trio of partnerships.

While specifics about the partnerships were not disclosed, there appears to be a link between Altre and Tishman Speyer. Altre has a stake in 50 Hudson Street in Jersey City, New Jersey, a 40-story, 924-unit project in the works on the city’s waterfront. Rob Speyer’s firm bought the land beneath both 50 and 55 Hudson Street from Goldman Sachs for an undisclosed price last year.

Altre is also a partner in Union West, a 357-unit rental complex in Chicago’s West Loop, which Tishman acquired in 2023 for $128 million.

Altre is positioning itself to take advantage of the dislocation of prices after the pandemic, brushing aside concerns about the macroeconomic environment and tariffs.

Commercial owners, said CIO Haig Apovian told Bloomberg, “will need to sell assets with little or no gain to be able to reapply this money or recycle the capital in new developments.”

Votorantim has been around for more than a century. The company operates in 19 countries, putting its hand in businesses revolving around cement, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, steel, mining, orange juice, banking, aluminum and power.

— Holden Walter-Warner