Verus Division Plans Up To $175M Investment

CHICAGO-Verus Partners, based here, has launched a new acquisitions division that will look to invests up to $175 million in office and industrial properties in select markets in the next 12 months. The company hired Greg Skirving as EVP to lead the team.

Skirving was previously an SVP and regional acquisition director for DCT Industrial, where he picked up almost 30 million square feet for that company. In his new position, Skirving tells GlobeSt.com that now is the best time to purchase real estate.

“Values have come down and cap rates have gone up. Really, today’s fundamentals are at their worst point in seven to nine years, and we may be at bottom. Some of the markets are starting to show signs of recovery, such as positive absorption in the second quarter in Chicago,’ Skirving says.

The new team will look to acquire Class A and B properties, mostly industrial but including select office sites, with values ranging from $4 million to $60 million. Skirving says the firm will focus on markets it already operates in, such as Chicago, Indianapolis, Nashville, Charlotte and Pennsylvania, as well as Canada markets such as Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton.

He says the firm will likely also look at areas where he has expertise, such as Cincinnati and Columbus, the Twin Cities, Dallas, Houston and Phoenix. “We want to stay in markets where there are already good relationships and we can move quickly when we understand there’s a good opportunity,” Skirving says.

The company isn’t just joining the herd and chasing only quality deals, he says. “Primarily, we’re looking at industrial that isn’t stabilized. There’s plenty of capital in the market looking for that. Our interest is that we look at properties where there’s some existing vacancy; newer properties, but maybe not fully stabilized, where we can get those properties stabilized ourselves,” Skirving says.