Mark Saal's Blue Owl Capital is in the midst of a major reinvention in response to changes in the commercial real estate industry.
The New York-based investment asset manager with a large Chicago presence is looking to expand into commercial real estate private credit through a combination of acquisitions, hiring and other strategies, according to a report from Real Estate Capital USA.
Blue Owl aims to build its debt book through originating loans, pursuing transactions in the securitization market and purchasing loans from traditional lenders.
This shift in strategy is being driven by tougher lending standards and rising interest rates that continue to plague commercial real estate, driving down property values, discouraging sales and making it harder for landlords to refinance their assets.
“The world is changing rapidly,” Saar, a Chicago resident and co-president of Blue Owl, told the outlet, “and we saw the lending environment shift and create a great opportunity for us to execute a new real estate financing strategy.”
Blue Owl recently acquired Scarsdale, New York-based consulting firm Prima Capital Advisors from Connecticut-based Stone Point Capital for $170 million. Prima invests primarily in commercial mortgage-backed securities and had $10 billion in assets under management at the time of the acquisition, with an investor base made up of a mix of institutions and high-net-worth individuals.
The company is also in the process of hiring Jesse Hom as head of real estate lending, effective June 17, according to the media. Hom is currently global head of real estate credit at Singapore-based asset management fund GIC.
Most notably, Blue Owl purchased and re-leased the site of the former Chicago Tribune Freedom Center printing plant, which gaming company Bally's is demolishing to make way for Chicago's first casino development.
—Quinn Donahue
read more
Bally's completes sale and leaseback of Freedom Center
Oak Street sells Kohl's property for $2 billion
Blue Owl Capital agrees to acquire Oak Street Real Estate for $950 million