David Rubenstein-Backed Venture Raises Another $300M

David Rubenstein-backed Declaration Partners is beginning its second real estate act, raising even more for its industry-specific fund than the first time around.

The investment firm raised $303 million from family offices and wealthy individuals — the Carlyle Group co-founder included — for a real estate fund, Bloomberg reported. The fund will invest in industrial assets and multifamily housing.

More than half of the fund is already committed to projects across the country. Those investments include a luxury community in Dallas, an affordable housing development in Los Angeles and an industrial project in New York City.

In 2017, Rubenstein’s family office provided the anchor investment for Declaration, which relied on that money and capital from other individuals before launching its first fund; Rubenstein is worth an estimated $6.4 billion today, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

In 2022, Declaration raised $240 million, the first fund using outside cash, for bets on the same property types in the United States. About 40 investors from the Middle East, Latin America and the United States contributed to the 10-year fund, which held options for holding period extensions.

The firm has returned more than half of that fund to investors already. As of the end of last year, the company counted roughly $2.2 billion in assets under management.

Declaration is one of the many players seeking to capitalize on the low values of commercial properties as the market continues to wind its way through a challenging interest rate environment.

“We’re very excited about the near-term pipeline and anticipate it’ll be a very busy end of the year,” partner Matthew Cohen told the outlet.

Last summer, Declaration formed a partnership with San Antonio-based Lynd Group to invest in multifamily workout and distressed situations across the United States. They are advising on portfolios involving 23,000 units.

— Holden Walter-Warner