CGI Remains an Active Buyer Through the Pandemic

CGI Real Estate Investment is remaining an active investor through the pandemic. Despite the economic dislocation and market uncertainty, CGI is continuing to pursue new acquisitions and opportunities, and the company is maintaining its pre-pandemic strategy.

“Our investors have come to us in recent months saying that they have capital to deploy, and so we are in a position to acquire great properties for true market value and some distressed assets that we can bring value to,” Kasia Mays as chief operating officer, tells GlobeSt.com. “We are exploring every business opportunity, but we are ensuring that whatever we bring online continues to match the vision, the financial expectations and the growth of the company.”

The company’s investors continue to recognize the profitability of the firm’s strategy, and particularly the firm’s ability to remain nimble and think out-of-the-box. “We are fortunate that our investors recognize the profitability as well as the ability for the company to be able to pivot. We move fast and we are very fluid,” says Mays. “We are fortunate to have a working team that has a sense of appreciation and can move in and out of a business strategy very quickly. We are very unconventional company when it comes to success and recognizing the entire investor chain.”

While CGI has kept the same strategy, the firm has focused on quality locations and quality properties that will be more resilient through the recession. “The pandemic has only made our focus that much more acute,” says Mays. “We have been fortunate in that our properties have been in extraordinarily well-positioned locations, and I think that our price point has often garnered residents that have been more sheltered from the changes in the economy.”

One thing that hasn’t changed is CGI’s focus on the community. In fact, the firm thinks that community partnerships will properties succeed through the economic uncertainty. “Our strategy has been a long-term strategy, and our properties are deeply rooted in a sense of community,” says Mays. “Businesses are integrated and partnerships are integrated, so we are not just another property but one that contributes residentially and financially but also philanthropically and adds value to a community, versus being another profit center for a company.”

CGI’s current portfolio has performed well so far through the pandemic, which has made the company bullish on its existing strategy. “Our operations teams have done exceptionally well to be able to pivot and to make sure that whatever concessions in the business climate that we had to make would not impact any of the residents or the experiences that our properties offer,” says Mays. “What has happened is there is a deeper and inclusive connection with our residents.”