DALLAS – Velocis, a private equity real estate fund, completed more than 300,000 square feet of transactions in December 2013, including the sale of The Jefferson Building in Austin, Texas.  

Velocis Fund 1 sold The Jefferson Building, a 97,552-square-foot medical office building located in Austin, Texas to REIT Healthcare Realty. The sale closed after Velocis completed extensive renovations and pushed rates.

“Velocis' recent asset purchases show our ability to secure assets that directly align with our investment strategy.  The sale of our first acquisition, The Jefferson, underscores our ability to achieve our targeted returns,” said Fred Hamm, principal and co-founder of Dallas-based Velocis. “We are proud of the successes we have achieved and are looking forward to continuing our effective deployment of capital in the markets Velocis has targeted.”

Velocis launched the fund in 2010, targeting assets in demand driven/supply constrained markets, focusing on core-plus office, medical office and retail properties across the southern region. The fund has purchased nine assets in Texas, one in Denver, one in Atlanta and one in West Palm Beach, Florida. Velocis continues to focus on the major Texas markets, Denver, Greater Atlanta, Southern Florida, Raleigh/Durham, and the DC Corridor.

“We are aggressively looking for opportunities in our target areas,” added Hamm. “It has been a challenge to find large to medium sized medical office buildings.”

Additionally, Velocis recently purchased a 43,797-square-foot medical office building in West Palm Beach, Florida and Royal Center, a 152,057-square-foot office building in Alpharetta, Georgia, just north of Atlanta.

Currently, Velocis has approximately $280 million in total assets under management. Velocis Fund 1 closed in March of 2013, yet is still raising capital through co-investments.  Hamm says Fund 1 will be 75% deployed by February based on deals under contract and Velocis will soon be looking toward Fund 2.