A Midwestern private equity player will count on a Phoenix-based executive to oversee $4 billion in funds for bargain-hunting in the commercial real estate market.
ElmTree Funds has tapped industry veteran Blake Curtis as director of acquisitions, the Phoenix Business Journal reported.
Curtis’ career has touched on various sectors of the commercial real estate industry in Arizona, and his now employer will have him focus on industrial throughout the state and the rest of the country. His new role calls for him to head up acquisitions with an eye on build-to-suit projects and sale-leaseback deals for two recently launched funds.
The industrial sector got red hot during the pandemic as online shopping boomed and spurred demand for new distribution facilities for household deliveries. Phoenix was among the leading markets for warehouse and distribution development, and has more recently seen the trend cool, opening up new opportunities that appear to be getting the interest of investors such as Elm Tree Funds.
“Capital is still tough to find in the market — a lot of tenants are still on the sidelines waiting strategically to expand when debt becomes cheaper,” Curtis told the Business Journal. “Having a balance sheet to provide those solutions, whether it’s a down market or a bull market, provides a strategic advantage in that respect.”
Curtis arrives at his new post after a stint as a principal of WeBuild Residential, where he focused on multifamily projects from ground up and through adaptive re-use of suburban offices into residential. His duties also included oversight of acquisitions, joint-ventures and brokerage operations.
He previously served as managing director of capital markets and acquisitions at SimonCRE in Scottsdale, where he specialized in retail centers. Before that worked in the retail and industrial sectors for Cole Real Estate Investments.
Curtis lives in the Phoenix area. He’s also an acting member of the local chapter of NAIOP and the Urban Land Institute’s Industrial Product Council, and involved in philanthropy through the Executive Council Charities for Arizona.
Curtis will remain based in Phoenix and will have the Arizona market in his sights even as he widens his focus nationally.
“Given the advanced manufacturing we’re seeing here in Phoenix and the desire to be in our market for fulfillment expansion, we intend to be there first, we intend to be top-of-mind as tenants begin to ease back in the market and look to expand,” Curtis said.