CityView Closes on First Asset from $300M Fund

(Mark Your Calendars: RealShare REAL ESTATE 2012, March 22^nd in Los Angeles).

SAN FRANCISCO-Los Angeles-based CityView, a real estate advisory firm founded by former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, has just closed on its first asset from the Bay Area Fund. The new $300-million fund will be used to invest in multifamily housing communities in the Bay Area region.

The class A mixed-use asset, called Potrero Launch, is located in the Mission Bay area of San Francisco’s waterfront and is slated to be completed in the third quarter of 2012 with 196 rental apartment units and 28,000 square feet of office and retail space.  

According to Cisneros, executive chairman of CityView, “There is a critical shortage of quality rental properties in the Bay Area. For those who cannot afford the high cost of owning a home in the region, it is imperative that they have access to high quality multifamily housing.”

Tony Cardoza, formerly of Real Estate Capital Partners, has been named as managing director of the Bay Area Fund and David Martin, formerly the founder, chairman and CEO of the Martin Group, and vice chairman of CityView is chairman of the fund’s investment committee. Cardoza and Martin have extensive experience in the Bay Area and collectively have worked on a number of notable projects, such as One Market, 1000 Van Ness, Hamilton Field, EmeryBay, and Downtown Pleasant Hill.

Martin says that “Patrick McNerney, principal of Martin Building Co. and the developer of Potrero Launch, has a long history of building high quality projects in the City.”

McNerney says in a prepared statement that the transaction was “complex” and “took place over a condensed timeframe.”

Cardoza points out that “We’ve raised a significant amount of capital for an area we think is very promising for new construction in the multi-family sector and we intend to continue to seek similar urban, infill development opportunities with strong partners.”

Cisneros adds that “This region is a focus for our equity dollars because of several factors—it’s one of the focal points of the nation’s business and professional services, its artistic and cultural opportunities, its transportation, its educational and scientific talents, and its foreign trade activities. The area is a big draw for people, jobs, and the capital necessary to justify large-scale investments in housing. We certainly hope that more housing options will help ease the high cost of rental housing for Bay Area residents.”

Cardoza tells GlobeSt.com that the amount for Potrero Launch is $437,000 per residential unit. In addition, he says, the project has 20% affordable units reserved for those earning 30% and 50% AMI.