After acquiring the former Skating Club of Boston property, Davis Cos. is proposing 535 apartments, a 225-room hotel and 120 condos on the Allston property and a neighboring parcel.
After raising $777.5 million for his fourth and largest investment fund, Jonathan Davis is looking to buy COVID-resilient real estate such as life science, multifamily and industrial properties – and distressed debt in others that haven’t been spared during the pandemic.
The Davis Investment Ventures Fund IV closed late last month after exceeding its initial target of $650 million. The value-add fund could support up to $2.5 billion in investments, said Davis, founder and CEO of Boston-based Davis Cos.
The investment strategy could bear similarities to Davis’ earliest fund which launched in 2009 during the financial crisis. Approximately $100 million will be invested in debt securities, Davis predicted, as hotel and retail portfolios bear the brunt of the pandemic’s initial impact.
“It was one of the most profitable segments of our portfolio during the global financial crisis,” he said. “It is still a good business, especially on a special situation basis.”
Davis Cos. already has tapped into the fund for seven investments totaling $165 million in equity, including a handful in Greater Boston: the acquisition of the 18-acre Boston Market Terminal Corp. property on the Everett-Chelsea line for a last-mile distribution facility, purchase of the Skating Club of Boston property in Allston for a proposed housing and hotel complex and a 3.2-acre multifamily development site in East Boston. Davis said Greater Boston will continue to be a target market because of its innovation economy, along with areas with job growth and lower cost of living such as the southeast U.S.
Since launching its fund management business in 2009, Davis Cos. has broadened its investor base from high-net worth individuals to endowments, foundations, insurance companies and public pension funds. The Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Board invested $7.5 million in the latest fund, according to public meeting documents.
