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Blackbird Investment Group

Uncovering opportunities and unlocking value

About Blackbird

Blackbird Investment Group is a boutique real estate investment management firm based in Chicago, Illinois. We are a multi-disciplinary, value-oriented investor that targets undervalued, overlooked, complex, or mispriced assets. Our highly analytical approach combines local market knowledge and national capital markets expertise with economic and demographic data to uncover relative value opportunities and exploitable trends.

2014

Company Founded

18+

Years Principals Together

$1.3B+

Acquisitions to Date

6.3M+

Square Feet Acquired

About Blackbird

Blackbird Investment Group is a boutique real estate investment management firm based in Chicago, Illinois. We are a multi-disciplinary, value-oriented investor that targets undervalued, overlooked, complex, or mispriced assets. Our highly analytical approach combines local market knowledge and national capital markets expertise with economic and demographic data to uncover relative value opportunities and exploitable trends.

2014

Company Founded

$1.3B+

Acquisitions to Date

18+

Years Principals Together

6.3M+

Square Feet Acquired

Strategy

Blackbird’s investment strategy emphasizes capitalizing on current real estate market dynamics, adding value to investments in our portfolio and creating attractive returns at each stage of the investment cycle.

We concentrate on investments in properties where we can add value. We add value by increasing income through development, through releasing, repositioning, rehabilitating, and/or improving management, and through acting upon relative value opportunities among geographic, market, and property sectors created by capital market conditions. To access investment opportunities and create value in undervalued properties, we create partnerships with established local, regional, and national real estate owners and operators who value our real estate expertise, creativity, and collaboration to execute a business plan.

Profile

Our primary focus is the acquisition of sub-performing real assets with a clear path to upside through repositioning, restructuring, redeveloping, and/or improving management. Other opportunities considered include select ground-up development, sale-leasebacks, and build-to-suit transactions.

Structure

We provide a variety of equity capital solutions to our network of local operating partners ranging from controlling (majority equity), non-controlling (sponsor equity) and preferred equity positions (structured). Moderate use of leverage, typically from balance sheet lenders, is utilized.

Asset Classes

We consider investments in all asset classes with a focus on industrial, multifamily, and office properties. Additionally, we have exposure to and an interest in other asset classes including, but not limited to, student housing, life science, self-storage, retail, hospitality, and other mixed-use assets.

Geography

We invest across the U.S. with a focus on primary and secondary markets which have demonstrable growth characteristics, high barriers to entry, and liquidity. Our former/current portfolio of assets are located in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington D.C.

Representative Transactions

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Our Team

Founded in 2014, Blackbird Investment Group is based in Chicago and led by a team of professionals who have invested together for more than a decade in over $3 billion across several real estate asset types.

Contact Us

Blackbird
Investment Group

350 W. Hubbard Street

Suite 250

Chicago, IL 60654

Tel : 312.724.8247

Fax: 312.724.8327

Investment Opportunities

Matt Jenson | Principal

mjenson@blackbirdinv.com

Investor Inquiries

Todd Vender | Managing Partner

tvender@blackbirdinv.com

General Inquiries

Pete Hosfield | Chief Financial Officer

phosfield@blackbirdinv.com

Greg Adler

Co-founder & Managing Partner

Prior to co-founding Blackbird in 2014, Mr. Adler was a Principal at Blue Vista Capital Management, LLC “BVCM” having joined the firm shortly after its inception in 2002. During his time at BVCM, Mr. Adler was intimately involved in many aspects of the business including, capital raising, fund structuring, and investment strategy execution as the firm grew from a start-up into an investment management firm with 35+ employees and over 1 billion in equity capital under management.

 

From an investment perspective, Mr. Adler has participated in the acquisition, financing and disposition of over 2 billion of real estate in the industrial, multifamily, office, retail, hospitality, and student housing sectors. Prior to joining BVCM, Mr. Adler worked as an Analyst in the Mergers Strategic Advisory Group for Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. in New York City from 2000 to 2002. Mr. Adler assisted in the execution of merger, acquisition and divestiture transactions, high yield and convertible debt financings, and public equity offerings. Mr. Adler graduated from the University of Michigan Business School with a Bachelor of Business Administration.

Todd Vender

Co-founder & Managing Partner

Mr. Vender is a Co-Founder and a Managing Partner of Blackbird.  Prior to co-founding Blackbird in 2014, Mr. Vender was a Senior Vice President at BVCM where he helped lead deal origination and an operator outreach program on a national basis. Mr. Vender subsequently interacted with the acquisitions, asset management, and portfolio management teams on the identification, underwriting, and execution of all new individual transactions as well as various investment strategies. Prior to joining BVCM in 2005, Mr. Vender worked at Jones Lang LaSalle’s (“JLL”) in the New York transactions group focusing on local and national clients. Mr. Vender started his career in 2000 as a financial analyst with Riverside Management Group, a private equity firm based in Westport, CT and New York, NY. Mr. Vender received a Bachelor of the Arts degree from Georgetown University.

PETE HOSFIELD

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Hosfield is Chief Financial Officer of Blackbird. Prior to joining Blackbird, Mr. Hosfield was the Chief Financial Officer for a family office where he was involved in all aspects of the firm from tax planning, tax arbitrage, acquisitions, asset management, and reporting. His responsibility also included serving as the Chief Financial Officer for a portfolio company, Premier Truck Rental, which is one of the largest light and medium duty truck rental providers in the U.S. Prior to joining the family office, Mr. Hosfield was with BVCM as a Fund Reporting Manager focusing on multiple middle market value-add funds. In advance of joining BVCM, Mr. Hosfield was with Crowe in Indianapolis where he performed audit and consulting services to both public and private financial institutions. Mr. Hosfield graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor of Science in Business and is a Certified Public Accountant.

 

MATT JENSON

Principal

Mr. Jenson is a Principal of Blackbird who participates in all aspects of its business including, but not limited to, acquisitions, asset management, portfolio management, and investor relations. Prior to joining Blackbird in 2019, Mr. Jenson was a Vice President at BVCM where he worked on a series of value-add funds focused on the middle market equity sector. He was responsible for the acquisition, asset management, and portfolio management activities of over $1 billion in institutional real estate assets. Prior to joining BVCM, Matt worked at EY in the Transaction Real Estate group where he performed valuation and consulting services for public REITs and private equity clients. Matt graduated from the University of Wisconsin School of Business with a Bachelor of Business Administration.

 

WILL HUGHES

Analyst

Mr. Hughes is an Analyst at Blackbird, with responsibility for financial modeling, asset management, portfolio management, market research, and supporting all aspects of the acquisition and underwriting process. Prior to joining Blackbird in 2020, Mr. Hughes was an Intern at IRC Retail Centers supporting the acquisitions and portfolio management teams. Mr. Hughes graduated from the Marquette University School of Business with a Bachelor of Business Administration, double majoring in Finance and Real Estate.