MIAMI—Adler Kawa Real Estate Advisors, a Miami Beach-based joint venture between Adler Group, Inc. and alternative investment firm Kawa Capital Management, has gotten off to a fast start. Since launching in February, the company has inked two acquisitions.

Driven by an experienced team of professionals with investment, private equity, leasing, and property management backgrounds, the firm invests in multi-tenant industrial and office properties in the southern and eastern regions of the United States. GlobeSt.com caught up with Matthew L. Adler to get the skinny on the JVs moves.

GlobeSt.com: Your firm has deep roots in Florida, but your first two acquisitions have been out of market. How come?

Adler: Our team has been focused on identifying assets offering in-place cash flow, strong risk-adjusted returns, and an opportunity to create value through operations across the southern and eastern U.S since the 1990s. South Florida is certainly a target market of ours within that region, especially given our work investing in and operating properties here since the 1950s, and we continue to seek a local asset that satisfies our yield-oriented strategy.

GlobeSt.com: How is the infusion of international investment into Florida altering the investment sales market?

Adler: Much of the impact is being felt in South Florida, where there is more competition from high-net-worth and institutional investors by comparison with other target markets. That being said, international investors also account for a significant portion of our investor base, so foreign buyers are potentially our competitors and also our clients. We make a compelling case for an investment with AKREA given our investment and management track record, the due diligence we put into our acquisitions, and the diverse nature of our funds.

GlobeSt.com: What is attractive about Charlotte and Houston? Are there similarities between both cities' commercial real estate markets?

Adler: Charlotte and Houston both share something that is fundamental to our investment strategy: significant population growth. Ultimately, we like to invest in markets with strong demand drivers and steady employment growth.

Once we identify the target city, we focus on finding assets that present stable cash flow and an opportunity to add value on the management side, through capital improvements, repositioning and leasing, and operations. We are able to do this because we already employ strong management teams in both markets.

Be sure to come back for the second part of this exclusive interview in this afternoon's Miami edition.