Aegon Real Assets Launches Opportunity Zone Platform

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA—Aegon Real Assets US has closed on its first multifamily residential real estate development located within a designated Opportunity Zone. The $60 million development, a joint venture between Aegon RA and a subsidiary of Kemper Corp., is located in downtown Sacramento, CA, which is one of the 34 select metro areas that Aegon RA has determined to be an attractive OZ market.

This deal is the first development within Aegon RA’s OZ investment strategy, which was launched in January 2019. It is also a key component of Aegon RA’s multifamily real estate equity platform. The company currently manages a $2.7 billion portfolio of multifamily assets located in OZs, according to Philip J. McAndrews, head of Real Estate Equity. “Investing in OZs is one of several key initiatives we are implementing to expand our real estate equity platform,” he says in prepared remarks.

Christoph Gabler, co-head of Aegon RA attributes the firm’s entrance into the OZ space in large part to its LIHTC platform. Aegon RA has acquired more than $4.8 billion of tax credit real estate private equity investments through its national low-income housing tax credit business. All told, it manages 430 LIHTC partnerships and has funded $7.7 billion in multifamily loans since 2007. Gabler said that the company has established a robust pipeline of potential multifamily acquisition targets, many of which are located in OZ markets.