(Read more on the debt and equitymarkets.)

IRVINE, CA-Scala Real Estate Partners has launched a$200-million investment program designed to acquire, develop andrecapitalize residential and mixed-use projects in California. L.M.Cummings, who is co-managing partner of the firm along with FrankZaccanelli, tells GlobeSt.com that the program reflects the locallybased firm's belief that housing demand will remain strong inCalifornia over the long term and that current conditions present awindow of opportunity for programs like Scala's.

With the liquidity issues that many if not most builders arefacing, “we're expecting that they will be amenable to working withnew, fresh capital,” Cummings says. Scala Real Estate Partners willmanage the program, in which it will be a co-investor along withLehman Brothers Private Equity and the Oxford Properties Group.Oxford is the global real estate platform for the Ontario MunicipalEmployees Retirement System, one of the largest pension plans inCanada.