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An alternative investment firm focused on investments in professional sports teams is pushing into commercial real estate — a growing focus for the multibillion-dollar franchises.
Arctos Partners hired Ira Shaw, Gina Spiegel, Greg Lombardi and Robert DiGiovine from Crow Holdings, the real estate firm run by the family of legendary developer Trammell Crow, the company announced Thursday.
The team will launch Arctos Keystone Real Assets out of a new Boston office with plans to invest in a variety of property sectors, including rental housing and data centers, as the real estate industry experiences a “period of dislocation and reorganization,” Arctos co-founder Ian Charles told Bloomberg.
Real estate development is an increasingly critical component of the business Arctos was founded to invest in: professional sports. The firm owns stakes in the NFL's Buffalo Bills; six MLB teams, including the Los Angeles Dodgers; four NBA teams, including the Golden State Warriors; five NHL franchises and the Paris St. Germain French soccer club.
Valuations for pro sports franchises continue to break records, driven in part by their ability to anchor massive real estate developments.
Shaw and Spiegel joined Crow in 2021 after a stint with Landmark Partners, where Charles worked before co-founding Arctos. Lombardi was previously a managing director at BlackRock before joining Crow in March last year, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The real assets division, called AK-RA, would provide equity and debt to real estate operators and investment managers and act as a long-term partner. A separate Arctos subsidiary similarly invests in private equity firms.
“Applying those tools that we built for the private equity market and for the sports market into the real estate and digital infrastructure markets is just a natural extension of what we do,” Charles said.
Last year, Arctos closed its second sports investment fund above its $2.5B target, and in December it purchased a 10% stake in the Bills team, according to Pitchbook. The Bills are in the process of building a new stadium that is expected to open in time for the 2026 season.
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