When the value in apartment acquisitions disappears, what's a value-add buyer to do? If you're Cygnus Capital, you buy a Jackson Hole resort. (It's like getting an ice cream on a bad day.)
Atlanta-based Cygnus is preparing to launch its third fund for distressed and REO property acquisitions. But while previous funds focused on multifamily, improving fundamentals and capital demands have evaporated what the firm sees as true value-add apartment deals in many places, says Cygnus' Christopher Swann. "Over the years we saw the market tighten up in that area," he says. "So we've moved into other opportunities, and usually they're more complex and frankly a more diverse product type."
Case in point: Cygnus this past February purchased the Snake River Sporting Club in Wyoming, a 200-plus acre resort that includes a golf course, equestrian facilities, and home lots(the property fell into foreclosure in 2010). It will be projects like that Christopher says the third fund (aimed to raise $25M) will target. "What we do see is a continuing pipeline of notes; and more speculative deals and land," especially around the Southeast. "Now that we're in one golf course, we're going to be looking for more of those." (They need to do a lot of research--hands on research--on all these golf courses.)
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