Aries Capital Launches New Net Lease Industrial Private Equity Platform with Acquisition of Lyft's Atlanta Driver Service Center
Aries Capital Private Equity, Aries Capital's newly launched dedicated net-leased industrial private equity platform, has completed the acquisition of Lyft's Atlanta Driver Service Center for approximately $6.5 million. The light-industrial facility is 100% net-leased to Lyft and one of nine service centers nationwide.
CHICAGO, Oct. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Aries Capital, a Chicago-based real estate investment firm with offices in Miami and Los Angeles, is pleased to announce the launch of their industrial net lease private equity platform with the acquisition of Lyft's Atlanta Driver Service Center.
The strategy was launched in Q2 2021 to invest in a diversified portfolio of operationally critical industrial and logistics assets throughout the southeast. The platform targets triple-net and sale-leaseback opportunities in the lower middle-market with long-term corporate tenants, with a focus on transaction values between $5 million and $25 million. The strategy is helmed by Aries Capital Chairman and CEO Neil Freeman as Managing Principal, alongside six-year Aries Capital veteran Brandon Perdeck as Director of Capital Markets and former Ares Management investment professional Matt Carney as Director of Acquisitions.
The acquisition of Lyft's Atlanta Driver Service Center marks the platform's inaugural transaction in one of Aries' core target markets. The newly renovated light-industrial facility is 100% net-leased to Lyft and serves as their sole Atlanta Driver Service Center. The Lyft Driver Service Program offers drivers heavily discounted vehicle maintenance and repair services and free diagnostics, as well as serves as a local and central co-working hub for drivers. As of July 2021, Lyft has opened nine such facilities across the country and is committed to no more than one in each major market, supporting the mission-critical nature of this asset.
"In addition to Lyft's focus on improving cost-side economics to drive retention, this asset is a critical operational component of Lyft's Express Drive program which offers company-owned vehicles available for lease, driving significant incremental revenue at this location," said Freeman.
The property is strategically located in one of the largest intermodal hubs in the southeast, with frontage to Interstate 75, and within four miles of Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport (the world's busiest airport in 2021). Aries Capital Private Equity acquired the newly renovated asset for approximately $6.5 million from Icarus Alternatives, an Atlanta-based development firm.
"This transaction highlights Aries' institutional approach to transacting in the fragmented lower middle-market at an attractive basis with strong in-place tenants. Our longstanding relationships across the industry provide unique access to both proprietary deal flow and bespoke financing solutions, widening our opportunity set and execution capabilities relative to traditional lower middle-market buyers," added Freeman.
Freeman is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Aries Capital and serves as Chairman of the Investment Committee. As of 2021, Aries Capital and affiliated entities hold equity interests in excess of $250 million in diversified commercial real estate assets nationwide. Additionally, since the firm's inception in 1991, Aries has completed over $8 billion in debt, equity, mezzanine and tax credit financings for industrial, hospitality and multifamily properties nationwide. Freeman earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Stanford University.
Carney joined Aries in 2021 as Director of Acquisitions and a founding member of the private equity platform, based in Los Angeles. Prior to Aries Capital, he was a Private Equity Associate at Ares Management. Previously, Carney was an Investment Banking Analyst in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Perdeck has been with Aries since 2016 leading Aries' Capital Markets platform and has been involved in over $400 million in transactions across industrial, storage, hospitality, and multifamily assets. He is primarily responsible for sourcing and structuring financing for the firm's investment activities.
About Aries Capital, LLC
Aries Capital is a diversified commercial real estate banking and investment firm headquartered in Chicago with offices in Miami and Los Angeles. Since its founding in 1991 by Neil Freeman, Aries has arranged and/or directly funded over $8 billion for commercial real estate assets nationwide. Our banking team specializes in arranging debt and equity capital for clients nationwide through deep-rooted relationships with CMBS lenders, banks/credit unions, debt funds, family offices, insurance companies, and other institutional equity investors. Our investment team – operating as Aries Capital Private Equity – is focused on the acquisition and operation of mission-critical light-industrial and logistics properties, with a particular emphasis on net lease assets and sale-leaseback opportunities throughout the southeast. Aries and affiliated entities hold equity interests in excess of $250 million in diversified commercial real estate assets nationwide.
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SOURCE Aries Capital
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