Calvera Launches National Expansion

MINNEAPOLIS—Calvera Partners recently acquired Grant Street Commons, an 85-unit apartment building located at 515 E. Grant St. in downtown Minneapolis’ Elliot Park neighborhood. The $11.375 million deal is the first in San Francisco-based Calvera’s national expansion, and a sign that Minneapolis has become one of the go-to locations for investors interested in emerging urban markets.

The city has a booming office market, and young renters, many in the tech industry, have flocked to neighborhoods adjacent to the downtown.

“Elliot Park is an emerging neighborhood in that more development is on the horizon,” Brian Milovich, managing principal at Calvera Partners, tells GlobeSt.com. “With the recent addition of US Bank Stadium, a major hospital expansion, condo towers, office buildings, and a hotel, this property is located in a location where we can be a part of this change.”

“From a competitive standpoint, this property also stands out,” he adds. “It is really the only property of size that isn’t a condominium tower, brownstone, or apartment building constructed in the past two years. We feel that provides us an opportunity to do something highly creative in order to create our own market that doesn’t compete on price with the new construction, but remains a high-value to renters who want an urban lifestyle and to be a part of this positive change.”

And the 1980s-era building won’t get a cookie cutter renovation. Milovich says Calvera will take “the time to understand the neighborhood and physical attributes of the building to craft a story that’s unique to the Minneapolis rental scene.”

The long-term future for the building is still up in the air. Calvera generally does not do quick turnarounds. Instead, it prefers a methodical approach, and after finishing a renovation, either hold for the long term or sell opportunistically given current market dynamics.

It shouldn’t be too hard to eventually find prospective buyers for the Twin Cities. According to a recent New York Times article, the city had the third highest increase in density, just behind Chicago and Seattle, from 2010-2016 out of the 51 US metros with more than one million people.

“We chose Minneapolis as our first city outside of California because we think the Twin Cities is still a well-kept secret across the country,” says Milovich. “It is densely populated, showing steady growth, has major attractions and large businesses, and most importantly, a desire for urban living. The city and developers alike have invested millions of dollars in East Town. We can see that progress heading south on Portland Ave. and want to be part of that evolution.”

Calvera also plans to open an office in the Twin Cities and seek additional investments in the metro area, along with other markets across the country.

“Outside of the San Francisco Bay Area and now the Twin Cities, we also spend time reviewing properties in the Greater Los Angeles area, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Austin, Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte, Denver, Chicago, and the Pacific Northwest,” says Milovich.

http://www.globest.com/sites/brianjrogal/2017/06/08/calvera-launches-national-expansion/