Koll Initiative Eyes Buys in 20 US Metros

William L. "Bill" Rafkin, founder of Hampshire Capital Corp., was named senior vice president of investments to lead the Dallas-based developer's initiative. In making the transition, Rafkin is phasing out Hampshire Capital, a business he founded in 1992, while amicably closing out a six-year job as CFO for Dallas-based Westwood Residential Co.

Rafkin tells GlobeSt.com that he's hit the ground running by initiating talks for four acquisitions, all corporate-owned facilities. The only details he's giving now is that the properties are on the East Coast, West Coast and two in the Midwest.

Koll the developer turned into Koll the buyer because clients, many build-to-suits, were asking for a little help in unloading surplus real estate. In the past, Koll offered to "help" dispose of properties for its build-to-suit clients, but now it's offering to buy. As the idea developed, the plan was broadened to include sale/leasebacks of existing facilities.

Rafkin says Koll capital will lead the way, but co-investors are a likely scenario. Purchases will fall in the $20-million to $100-million category, all office and industrial in bricks and mortar or land.

"Bill's strengths in capital markets, acquisitions, financing, dispositions and leasing coincide perfectly with opportunities in real estate investments, a key growth area for us," Steve Van Amburgh, Koll's CEO, said in a prepared statement about creating the new position and the man hired to fill it.

Rafkin, a 20-year professional, says the idea is to seek and find properties ripe for change and then seize the buying opportunity via creative financing. "We've got to touch the real estate and add some value rather than wait for the market to bail us out," he says of a plan launched to keep pace with economic times that have slowed development in most major markets.

Rafkin is Koll's third personnel change in recent weeks. John B. Dwyer was hired as director of property management while James Williams, a 10-year employee, was promoted to vice president from director of pre-development services. With 18 years in property management, Dwyer is tasked with oversight of the Dallas portfolio, from the land assets to the one-million-sf CentrePort near the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.