NBS Real Estate Capital is comprised of the partners of Norris,Beggs & Simpson, a locally based real estate services firm, andfund manager Rance Gregory. Gregory most recently worked forDonaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and, subsequent to the merger,Credit Suisse First Boston, where he served as a Los Angeles-basedprincipal of DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners, investing more than$265 million of equity for two different funds.

"Real estate markets have held up remarkably well through thiseconomic downturn, largely on the strength of low interest ratesand a lack of attractive investment alternatives, however; we areentering a phase in this unique real estate cycle where we couldsee prices for non-stabilized assets flatten or decrease even asmarket fundamentals begin showing signs of improvement," saysGregory. "With interest rates increasing recently, we are startingto find pricing anomalies and early signs of owner distress thatwill create investment opportunities for NBS Real Estate Capital,particularly in situations where we can offer the fund's preferredequity and mezzanine debt solutions to capital-constrainedinvestors and developers."

The fund's investors include pension funds, foundations, bankholding companies, private businesses, charitable trusts andhigh-net-worth individuals. It will focus on office, industrial andmultifamily investments in the metropolitan areas of Washington,Oregon, Idaho and Nevada. The fund will focus on investmentsrequiring $500,000 to $5 million of equity. Its typical hold willbe three to five years.