Pretty much all family offices/private investment offices invest in real estate/land, but many see the asset class as the most or among the most valuable asset within their portfolios. Here are 50 that have either prioritized real estate investments, or made the asset class an important part of their portfolios.
In Alphabetical order
Apperly Estates
Based: London, UK
Real estate focus: retail, industrial estates; UK
Notable assets: 21 Conduit St., London; 174 New Bond Street, London
A London-based real estate family investment office, which can trace its origins back to the early 20th century. Apperly owns various prestigious sites throughout central London as well as industrial sites in the UK. It recently acquired an industrial development site in the UK for £9.2 million.
Bayerische Hausbau
Based: Munich, Germany
Real estate focus: Re-development of city neighbours; retail, commercial residential, industrial; Germany, Hungary
Notable assets: Kaiserresidenz Alter Hof in Munich’s city centre and the WelfenHöfe neighbourhood in Munich’s Au district
A real estate investment group owned by Schörghuber family, Bayerische Hausbau is one of the biggest owners of property in Germany. It has a real estate portfolio mainly in and around Germany’s big cities – Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, and Stuttgart.
Cadogan Group/Cadogan Estate
Based: London, UK
Real estate focus: retail, commercial, residential; UK
Notable assets: sizable ownership of much of the London districts of Kensington and Chelsea
Cadogan is the privately-owned property investment and management company owned by the Cadogan family, one of Britain’s richest old-money families. Family Capital ran a profile on the Cadogan Group and its real estate portfolio here.
Cascade Investment
Based: Kirkland, US
Real estate focus: hotels, commercial, residential, farmland; mostly the US
Notable assets: partial ownership of the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco, Four Seasons hotel group, 4,500 acres of farmland in Florida
Cascade Investment, the private investment office of Bill Gates and family, has a sizable real estate portfolio. Indeed, through a joint venture group called Strategic Property Partners, more details here, Cascade is involved in one of the biggest real estate developments in the US. Cascade also jointly owns the hotel group Four Seasons, which owns more than 100 hotels around the world. Gates/Cascade also has a stake in the Ritz-Carlton hotel in San Francisco. Cascade has also bought farmland, including 4,500 acres in Florida, and, most recently 14,500 acres in Southern Washington, which, according to reports, cost Gates $171 million.
Chiron Investments
Based: Los Angeles, US
Real estate focus: development projects, commercial; US
Notable assets: N/A
Chiron Investments, the Los Angeles-based private investment office of the Chaudhari family, keeps its investments, much in real estate, discreet. But it is known to have a sizable property portfolio. Last year, Chiron bought a development site for $16 million in downtown Miami.
Circle F Capital
Based: New York City, US
Real estate focus: offices, retail, residential; US
Notable assets: 335 Broadway, New York City; 934 Madison Avenue, NYC
The private investment office of the Feldman family has been an active investor and manager of property assets for many decades, with much of those efforts are centred on New York City.
Claridge
Based: Montreal, Canada
Real estate focus: offices, commercial, residential, retail; Canada
Notable assets: 7250 Marconi, Montreal; Bassins du Havre, Montreal; Place Montreal Trust, Montreal; Espace Montmorency, Laval
Claridge, the family office of Stephen Bronfman, has an extensive real estate and development portfolio, mostly based in Montreal. A few years ago, Claridge also partnered with Ivanhoé Cambridge, the property investment arm of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, to set up a $100 million fund to invest in mid-sized real estate development projects in Montreal.
Consolidated Investment Group
Based: Colorado, US
Real estate focus: offices, residential, industrial; US
Notable assets: Office blocks in Boston and Washington D.C., New York City
The private investment office of David Merage and his family, Consolidated Investment Group, has a sizable real estate portfolio. This includes direct investment or joint venture partnerships in around 25,000 apartment units in the US, and a land bank of 2500 acres in Denver, Southern California, Hawaii, and Phoenix.
Declaration Capital
Based: New York City, US
Real estate focus: residential; US
Notable assets: A residential community in Maryland called Silver Spring.
Declaration Capital, the private investment office of private equity billionaire David Rubenstein, has been active in the real estate market since it was set up in 2017. It has bought with other investors several apartment blocks in Maryland. Earlier this year, Declaration, together with two other investors, paid $86.7 million for a real estate investment called Silver Spring in Maryland.
Drake Enterprise/Drake Real Estate
Based: New York City, US; Baar, Switzerland
Real estate focus: residential, retail, office and industrial; US
Notable assets: The Drake – acquisition and development of a 986-unit apartment complex in Mayfield Heights, Ohio.
Set up by Nicolas Ibañez Scott – he and his brother sold their Chile-based supermarket chain to Wal-Mart in 2009 – the private investment office Drake Enterprises also oversees Drake Real Estate, which has a portfolio worth $1.3 billion.
Ferd
Based: Oslo, Norway
Real estate focus: commercial, residential, industrial, property management; property funds; Norway
Notable assets: Development of the urban district around the University of Oslo; Widespread apartment block developments in Oslo
Ferd is the private investment office of Johan Andresen and his family. It has a big portfolio of commercial and residential properties mostly in and around Oslo, but also invests in other cities in Norway. Ferd also invests in international property funds. It has a team of nine property specialists to direct its real estate efforts.
Fremont Group
Based: San Francisco, US
Real estate focus: commercial, care homes, self-storage, healthcare; US, Europe
Notable assets: N/A
The Fremont Group is the private investment office for the Bechtel family. Through its property business, Fremont Realty Capital, the family office has invested extensively in real estate assets throughout the US and Europe. It also has done a lot of investing in self-storage businesses. More about these efforts are detailed here.
The Grosvenor Estate
Based: London, UK
Real estate focus: residential, farmland, commercial; global
Notable assets: sizable freehold ownership in London’s Mayfair district; 288 Jackson Square, San Francisco; Grosvenor Ambleside, Vancouver; 1500 K Street; 96,000 acres in northwest Scotland
Perhaps the greatest property dynasty of all time given its longevity, the Grosvenor Estate effectively acts as a single-family office for the Grosvenor family, given the family is its only shareholder. The history of the Grosvenor Estate goes back to the 17th century and has been extremely good at innovation ever since, primarily through geographical diversification. The property group has been involved in many projects in North America, Europe, and Asia and has a property portfolio spread around these regions worth many billions of dollars.
Hayman Family Office
Based: Los Angeles, US
Real estate focus: office, retail, commercial; US
Notable assets: Louis Vuitton building on Rodeo Drive
The Hayman Family Office is a California-based single-family office founded and led by Robert Hayman, the son of Fred Hayman, the Swiss-born American fashion retailer and entrepreneur. Much of its investments are focused on property and property-related businesses. For more detailed information, Family Capital ran a profile on the family office here.
Heirs Holdings
Based: Lagos, Nigeria
Real estate focus: hotels, offices, residential, development; Africa
Notable assets: Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, Nigeria, and the Transcorp Hotel in Calabar, Nigeria.
Owned by African entrepreneur Tony Elumelu, Heirs Holdings has a property portfolio mostly based in Africa. It owns a property development and management business called Afriland Properties, which invests and manages properties across Africa.
Hendricks Holding Company
Based: Beloit, Wisconsin, US
Real estate focus: residential, commercial, industrial; US
Notable assets: Bottleworks District, Indianapolis; Island Plaza, Florida
Wisconsin-based Hendricks Holding Co. is owned by the Hendricks family, who have invested in real estate since the 1970s. The holding group oversees a property portfolio and management business called Hendricks Commercial Properties.
Howard de Walden Estates Holdings
Based: London, UK
Real estate focus: retail, commercial, residential; UK
Notable assets: Own much of the real estate area in and around the Marylebone area of central London
A London-based real estate property investment and holding group, Howard de Walden Estates Holdings is owned by the heirs to the Howard de Walden estate, one of the biggest in London. The heirs are Camilla Anne Bronwen Acloque, Blanche Susan Fionudbhar Buchan, Mary Hazel Caridwen, or Lady Howard de Walden, and Jessica Jane Vronwy White. They are the four daughters of John Osmael Scott-Ellis, the 9th Baron Howard de Walden. The family’s wealth is pretty much all linked to prime central London property.
Hunt Investment Group
Based: Dallas, US
Real estate focus: offices, residential; US
Notable assets: Reunion Holdings, which comprises the Hyatt Regency Dallas, the Reunion Tower, Dal, the North End Apartments, Hunt Headquarters, the Sharyland Building and Sharyland Plantation – all in Dallas.
Hunt Investment Group is the private investment office of the descendants of the Texas oil tycoon H. L. Hunt. It has a real estate subsidiary called Hunt Realty Investments, which has an extensive property portfolio, mostly managed under Reunion Holdings. Hunt Realty also owns property groups Newland Real Estate Group and Woodbine Development, both of which own an extensive property portfolio mainly in Texas.
J Leon Group
Based: London, UK
Focus: retail; sustainable housing, farmland; UK
Notable assets: ZeroC’s Olympic sailing village at Portland, UK
London-based J Leon Group is the family office of the Slowe family. It has a focus on real estate, with more than a third of its portfolio in Investment grade property.
Jagen
Based: Melbourne, Australia
Real estate focus: residential, offices; Australia, Thailand
Notable assets: N/A
The private investment office of the Australian-based Liberman family is a big investor in property. It backs a property investment group called Monark Property Partners. Monark has been an active player in the Australian commercial real estate debt market, having provided in excess of A$600 million of capital across many residential and mixed-use developments. It also owns Samui Living, a real estate development company based in Koh Samui, Thailand.
JL Family Office
Based: Singapore
Real estate focus: offices, commercial, property asset management; Asia, Australia
Notable assets: 114 William Street (office block), Melbourne, Australia; Times Midtown (shopping centre) in Chongqing, China
JL Family Office is effectively a holding company owned by John Lim, a Singapore real estate developer. The family office has stakes in two real estate groups: ARA Asset Management, a property asset management group; and Straits Real Estate, a property investment company.
Junson Capital
Based: Hong Kong
Real estate focus: hotels; global
Notable assets: hotel assets around the world
Junson Capital is the private investment office of Cai Kui, a prominent real estate developer in China. Junson Capital is a big investor in global real estate assets, particularly in the hotel space. Last year, Junson bought a portfolio of US hotels for around $600 million. In 2016, Junson purchased a hotel in London for £80 million.
Karlin Asset Management
Based: Los Angeles, US
Real estate focus: commercial, residential; US, Europe
Notable assets: Parmer Innovation Center, Austin, Texas
Karlin Asset Management is the family office of Gary Michelson. It has a separate real estate group, which invests in commercial and residential real estate across the US and Europe. Karlin says it has: “acquired and financed close to $2 Billion of transactions representing approximately 10 Million square feet across the US and Europe.” Those efforts are led by managing director Matt Schwab and David Cohen, who is also chief investment officer of the family office.
KIRKBI
Based: Billund, Denmark
Real estate focus: offices, retail, industrial; Denmark, Germany, the UK (London); Switzerland
Notable assets: New Fetter Place, London; Schawanthalerstrasse, Munich; Østergade 26, Copenhagen
KIRKBI, the Kirk Kristiansen family’s investment company, has built up a substantial real estate portfolio, which is centred on office blocks in Copenhagen, Hamburg and Munich in Germany, Baar in Switzerland, and London. According to KIRKBI, the total size of the portfolio at the end of 2018 measured 270,000 square metres.
The Koehler Group
Based: Stuttgart, Germany
Real estate focus: commercial, residential; Germany
Notable assets: prime residential in Stuttgart
The Koehler Group was set up by Rene Marius Köhler, one of Germany’s most successful e-commerce entrepreneurs, to manage a portfolio of direct holdings in retail/e-commerce companies, real estate and indirect investments.
LeFrak
Based: New York City
Real estate focus: offices, residential, hotels, retail; US
Notable assets: Solé Mia, Florida; LeFrak City, Queens, New York; Gateway, Manhattan
The LeFrak family are among New York City’s richest property dynasties, owning large parts of the city’s prime properties – and most of that fortune is managed by a group called LeFrak, effectively a property-based family office The family’s property empire began in France in the late 19th century, but moved to the US at the beginning of the 20th century.
Libra Group
Based: London, UK
Real estate focus: commercial, offices, residential; global
Notable assets: N/A
The Libra Group is a private investment group owned by the Logothetis family. It has several real estate businesses including Elandis, which owns properties in North and South America; Palmerston Real Estate, which owns real estate in London, Athens, and St Peterburg; and Mayfair Investments, a Russian property group. Overall, Libra owns and/or manages around 5.8 million square feet of real estate around the world.
M. Safra & Co/Safra Group
Based: São Paulo, Brazil
Real estate focus: offices, retail, and residential; global
Notable assets: One Plantation Place, London; Gherkin Building, London; General Motors building, New York
A family office set up by the now deceased Moise Safra and now run by his son Ezra Safra, is a big real estate investor. In 2013, M.Safra jointly purchased a 40% stake in New York’s General Motors building for $1.4 billion. The Safra Group, a conglomerate and investment group, controlled by Joseph Safra, Moise’s brother, is also a big player in global real estate.
McCourt Global
Based: New York City, US
Real estate focus: commercial, residential; US, UK
Notable assets: 360 Tenth Avenue, New York City; 1201 Brickell Bay Drive, Miami; the Stage, London; and 260 acres of land at Chavez Ravine, Los Angeles.
McCourt Global is an investment group owned by Frank McCourt, who comes from a family with a long line of real estate and construction successes behind them. McCourt invests in prestigious offices and residential developments in the big cities in the US as well as London.
MBM Group
Based: Dubai, UAE
Real estate focus: commercial, retail, residential; worldwide
Notable assets: Residential estates in the UK, but wider real estate portfolio isn’t publicly available.
The family office of the Dubai royal family, the Al Maktoum, is a big investor in real estate in the UAE as well as abroad, perhaps owning one of the most significant property portfolios of any family in the world. But what precisely those investments are is shrouded in mystery as there is very little publicly available information on MBM’s real estate assets.
MSD Capital
Based: New York City, US
Real estate focus: hotels, commercial, residential; US
Notable assets: Four Seasons properties in Wailea and Hualalai, Hawai; the Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica; Boca Raton Resort & Club, Florida.
The investment office of Michael Dell and his family has made extensive investments in real estate across the US. Its real estate team of 12 professionals have committed more than $2 billion in the sector since 2004, involving 36 real estate and real estate-related transactions, according to MSD Capital. Last month, the investment group acquired one of Florida’s most famous hotel resorts in Boca Raton.
Murray Capital
Based: Edinburgh, Scotland
Real estate focus: Landholdings, offices, commercial; UK
Notable assets: a large strategic land bank in the West of Edinburgh, which includes property near Edinburgh airport
Murray Capital, a prominent Scottish family office owned by the Murray family and run by second-generation David Murray, has concentrated a sizable chunk of its portfolio in real estate. Family Capital ran an article about Murry Capital and its property efforts here.
Omninet Capital
Based: Beverly Hills, US
Real estate focus: residential, offices, property management; US
Notable assets: West Valley Corporate Center, Los Angeles; 3030 North Central, Phoniex,
The family office of the Californian-based Nazarian family, Omninet, which specialises in property and venture capital investment, has a property empire that comprises real estate operators. It currently owns over seven million square feet of commercial space and more than 13,000 residential units across the US.
Patoka Capital
Based: Kentucky, US
Real estate focus: residential, retail; US
Notable assets: Progress Village Apartments, Florida; The Athenaeum apartments, New York.
Patoka Capital is a family office controlled by the Regains family. Last year, it teamed up with real estate group MMI Development to fund a Florida-based multi-family residential development worth $45 million.
Pontegadea Real Estate and Pontegadea Investments
Based: Arteixo, Spain
Real estate focus: offices, commercial, residential; global
Notable assets: Adelphi building, London; retail and commercial sites across London such as stores on Oxford Street, Devonshire House and the Rio Tinto headquarters; E.V. Haughwout commercial loft building in SoHo, Manhattan; the Southeast Financial Centre in Miami
Pontagadea Investments is the investment office of Spanish retail magnate Amancio Ortega. Pontagadea Real Estate (Immobiliaria), which is part of the investment group, had a property portfolio worth €8.7 billion in 2017, according to its latest account filings, making it one of the most active family investment groups in property worldwide. Read more about Pontagadea and its real estate empire here.
Pritzker Vlock Family Office
Based: Connecticut, US
Real estate focus: residential, commercial; US
Notable assets: minority stake in the Phoenix Brewery building in Buffalo, various other stakes in Buffalo real estate; residential properties in Southern California
The family office of Karen Pritzker and her late husband Michael Vlock has been involved in various real estate developments in Buffalo, New York, and invested $50 million in 2013 alongside real estate firm Colony Capital in residential housing in Southern California.
Redevco/Cofra Holdings
Based: Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Real estate focus: commercial, property management, asset management; Europe
Notable assets: Berlin, Alexanderplatz; Glasgow, Buchanan Street; Paris, Rue de la St Paix
Owned by one of Europe’s wealthiest families, the Brenninkmeijer family, a German-Dutch dynasty, Redevco sits under the family’s holding company, Cofra – more details here. Redevco manages mostly a big portfolio of a mixture of buildings in prestigious shopping streets across Europe. More details about the Brenninkmeijers and their investments can be found here.
Serruya Private Equity
Based: Toronto, Canada
Real estate focus: commercial, retail; offices; residential; Canada
Notable assets: The Promenade, a 900,000-square-foot development area north of Toronto; The Templar Hotel, Toronto; The Aldred Building, Montreal.
Serruya Private Equity is the private investment office of the Canadian-based Serruya brothers, who made their fortune in the frozen yoghurt market. Their investment office has been a big investor in real estate assets, mostly in Eastern Canada and the major cities in the region.
Seven Valleys
Based: New York City, US
Real estate focus: offices; US
Notable assets: New York City assets include: the GM Building, Park Avenue Plaza and the ABC television studios
The New York City-based family office of Zhang Yin and Pan Shiyi, prominent real estate developers in China, is a big player in New York’s property investment world. It has acquired around four million square feet of real estate assets including the GM Building, Park Avenue Plaza and the ABC television studios, all in New York City. Led by Evan Marks, who has spearheaded much of Seven Valleys’ property acquisitions since it was set up in 2009.
Sowell & Co
Based: Dallas, US
Real estate focus: retail, residential, industrial; US
Notable assets: numerous retail, residential and industrial developments throughout Texas
Sowell & Co is an investment group owned by the Sowell family, which has a sizable real estate portfolio based in Texas.
Taft Family Ventures
Based: Greenville, North Carolina, US
Real estate focus: residential, redevelopment, property management
Notable assets: 401 Oberlin apartments, Raleigh, North Carolina; The Residences at Century Park, Greer, South Carolina
Taft Family Ventures is a family holding group with a focus on real estate investments and developments mostly in the Carolinas. It’s owned by the Taft family, which is now in its third generation of ownership of the investment group.
Tao Capital Partners
Based: San Fransico, US
Real estate focus: hotels, property tech; residential; commercial; mostly US
Notable assets: Atlantica Hotels
Tao Capital Partners, the family office of Nicholas Pritzker, is a big investor in tech companies and has concentrated some of these efforts in real estate tech groups like investments in Buildium, a US property management software company. It also co-invested with Sores Fund Management to buy a hotel group called Atlantica Hotels. Tao has also invested in residential units.
Tarsadia Investments
Based: Newport Beach, California, US
Real estate focus: hotels
Notable assets: N/A
Tarsadia Investments is a Californian-based a private office owned by the Patel family, which has a real estate portfolio mainly based on hotel assets across the US. The family office says on its website: “Tarsadia has successfully completed over 200 hotel transactions in the past 20 years, from 60 room limited feature hotels to 1,000 room full-service convention hotels.”
Tawani Enterprises
Based: Chicago, US
Real estate focus: residential, commercial, property management; US
Notable assets: Monroe Building, Chicago
The private investment group Tawani is owned by Jennifer Pritzker, the former colonel in the US army who announced her transgender from James to Jennifer in 2013. Much of the Chicago-based Tawani’s investments are linked to property, particularly from an impact investment basis.
Tricor Pacific Capital
Based: Vancouver, Canada
Real estate focus: residential; Canada
Notable investments: Royal Heritage Project; 1515 Rupert, Vancouver
Tricor Pacific Capital is the private investment office of Rod Senft and his family. It has been involved in various property developments and investments in mostly Vancouver. It also owns Areva Living, a real estate and land development company.
Vulcan
Based: Seattle, US
Real estate focus: office, residential, retail; redevelopment projects; US
Notable assets: Various prime office buildings in greater Seattle including the soon to be completed the biggest office block in Bellevue, 555 108th Ave NE; the Allen Institute; and Bellevue Plaza
Now run by Jody Allen after the death of her bother Paul Allen, Vulcan, the parent company, oversees Vulcan Capital, Allen’s main venture investment group and Vulcan Real Estate, which played a big part in the redevelopment of parts of Seattle. Vulcan has a real estate portfolio worth more than $2 billion, which is run by Ada Healey. Under Healey’s leadership, Vulcan has earned extensive national recognition and honours for its innovative development approaches and commitment to sustainability in the real estate space.
W5 Group
Based: Baar, Switzerland
Real estate focus: residential, commercial; Germany, US
Notable assets: N/A
W5 Group, the family office of Ralph Winter – a German real estate developer – came to the fore earlier this year when it announced it was to invest along with property company, Medici Living Group, $300 million during the next three years, to develop co-living spaces across the US.
Waypoint
Based: Geneva, Switzerland
Real estate focus: hotels, offices, residential; UK, Switzerland
Notable assets: One Berkeley Square, London; Riverwalk, London; 43-48 Dover Street.
Waypoint is Ernesto Bertarelli’s private investment holding group, which oversees two real estate groups, London-based Crosstree Real Estate Partners, and Geneva-based Roxbury.
Weinberg Capital Group
Based: Cleveland, US
Real estate focus: retail, office and industrial; US
Notable assets: 174,000 square feet of retail real estate in the Greenville, Michigan; 140,000 square foot Sangamon Center North Shopping Center in Springfield, Illinois
Weinberg Capital Group, a US family office of the Cleveland-based Weinberg family, has a focus on real estate and private equity. Earlier this year, Weinberg teamed up with Carnegie Companies, a property investment group owned by members of the founding Meisel family, to launch a real estate investment group called Carnegie-Weinberg. The joint venture has acquired the 140,000 square foot Sangamon Center North Shopping Center in Springfield, Illinois, for an undisclosed amount, and plans to make further real estate acquisitions in the future.
Weybourne Partners/Dyson Family Office
Based: London, UK
Real estate focus: offices, residential, retail; farmland; UK
Notable assets: The Village, a collection of 13 buildings in central London; 100 Union Street, London
James Dyson owned investment group Weybourne Partners, which has built up an extensive real estate and land holdings portfolio. Dyson through Weybourne owns and manages one of the biggest farmland areas in England. Weybourne also holds several prime office block buildings in London, including its purchase for £26 million last year an office block at 100 Union Street in South London.
Wirtgen Invest
Based: Cologne, Germany
Real estate focus: retail; residential: Germany
Notable assets: Bazaar de Cologne; Opern Passagen, one of the oldest shopping centres in Cologne
Owned by brothers Stefan and Jürgen Wirtgen, the investment group was set up after the family sold the Wirtgen Group in 2017 to John Deere for more than $5 billion. The private investment office has various sub-divisions, including a real estate group, which is active in redevelopment in Cologne.
