McFarland Partners services

Ground-up development. Adaptive re-use. Property repositioning and rehabilitation. Stabilized assets. No matter the strategy to be executed, we have the expertise in-house to successfully navigate the often difficult terrain of urban property markets.

Our senior team has developed properties since the early 1980s – a solid foundation that enables us to both build properties internally and maintain strong controls over the construction process when we partner with third-party development firms. We are accustomed to working with our development partners and local agencies to overcome the regulatory, environmental and capital issues that urban development projects can encounter.

Over the years, we have fine-tuned a comprehensive investment and management process that emphasizes maximizing returns while mitigating risks at each stage of a real estate asset’s life cycle – from predevelopment to stabilization and disposition. We structure investments to maintain flexibility at all times and continually analyze potential exits to mitigate risks or capitalize on shifts in capital-market and property-market conditions.

We have provided real estate investment management services for major institutions in the U.S. and overseas since 1987, both in single-investor accounts and in commingled funds. Procedures are well-established for asset management, development and construction management; portfolio management, research, risk management and client services; and finance/accounting and cash management.

Different real estate cycles call for different investment tactics. During periods of economic growth, rising tenant demand and intense investor interest, development-related investments typically provide the most attractive risk-adjusted returns. In those cycles, investors price existing assets dearly, while property supply/demand fundamentals support new additions to market space inventories.Opportunities can abound for deep-pocketed investors in down markets as well, but recognizing them requires a shift in thinking. With property values low, tenant demand sluggish and capital often difficult to obtain, investors should focus on existing buildings—buying an operating property, providing equity and/or debt to a liquidity-seeking property owner, or making a “loan-to-own” purchase of a note from a discouraged property lender.

The popularity of the urban lifestyle and the rise of smart-growth development are boosting space demand in urban areas and reshaping suburbs to make them more urban-like.