AllianceBernstein Completes Spin-Off of R.E. Private Equity Group into New JV
Prospect Ridge Advisors will be led co-chief investment officers Brahm Cramer and Jay Nydick. Both Cramer and Nydick were most recently partners at AllianceBernstein and founded its US Real Estate Investments group in 2009 and its Commercial Real Estate Debt Group in 2013.
NEW YORK CITY—The previously announced spinoff of AllianceBernstein’s Real Estate Private Equity Group into a separate joint venture has been finalized with the formation of the national real estate private equity firm Prospect Ridge Advisors, LLC.
Last July, AllianceBernstein announced the planned spinoff of its Real Estate Private Equity Group into a new joint venture. Prospect Ridge Advisors will be led co-chief investment officers Brahm Cramer and Jay Nydick. Both Cramer and Nydick were most recently partners at AllianceBernstein and founded its US Real Estate Investments Group in 2009 and its Commercial Real Estate Debt Group in 2013 after previously holding executive positions at Goldman Sachs.
Prospect Ridge officials state that it will employ what it terms will be a “thoughtful acquisition strategy and a hands-on asset management approach across multiple asset classes and geographies.”
Commenting on the new Prospect Ridge Advisors joint venture, Seth P. Bernstein, president and CEO of AllianceBernstein, says, “This strategic transaction opens up new avenues of growth from which both Prospect Ridge and AllianceBernstein stand to benefit. We look forward to our continued partnership and to contributing to our new JV’s immediate and long-term success.”
Since inception, Cramer, Nydick and the 17 others that make up the firm at its launch, have acquired 159 assets totaling $6.8 billion of gross cost across its two commingled equity funds (the AllianceBernstein US Real Estate Partners funds). It will continue to manage the existing equity funds. Prospect Ridge stresses that investors in those funds are not expected to be affected by the deal.
“Establishing Prospect Ridge reflects a natural evolution of the platform we’ve built over the last 10 years,” Cramer says. “Operating as a standalone firm affords us new opportunities to expand our business and develop new relationships while maintaining consistency for our existing investors and operating partners, who will benefit from our ongoing joint venture with one of the leading investment management platforms in the world.”
Prospect Ridge officials add that the firm will continue to maximize the synergies between its business and that of AB’s real estate debt platform, which has originated $4.9 billion of loans since inception.
The real estate debt team is remaining at AllianceBernstein and will continue to be led by Roger Cozzi. The senior principals of Prospect Ridge will remain actively involved in the AB real estate debt business and will retain positions on its investment committee. According to its website, Prospect Ridge will have its headquarters in New York City and will also have operations in San Francisco.
“While we begin our next chapter with a new name, what’s not changing is our team, our investment process and the high level of service and attention to detail that we provide our investors,” Nydick says. “We’ve structured a best-in-class platform that can thrive in all environments, and we believe the dislocation that is beginning to appear in today’s real estate landscape presents a well-timed opportunity to expand our differentiated platform.”
AllianceBernstein made headlines in May of last year when it announced it would relocate its corporate headquarters from Wall Street in New York City to Nashville in 2020.
Earlier this week in a report in the Tennessean, AllianceBernstein CEO Bernstein said that the firm was planning to establish a private wealth group in Nashville and is considering adding a local investment team.