GREENWICH, Conn. — January 9, 2013 — Wheelock Street Capital announced today its first residential land acquisition in California, the 132-acre Stonehill Estates in western Riverside County.
Stonehill Estates is approved for 425 single-family detached homes and is located east of the intersection of Cantu-Galleano Ranch Road and Instersate-15 in the newly incorporated City of Jurupa Valley. Situated within the highly desirable Eastvale/Jurupa Valley Area of Riverside County, the project is well positioned to benefit from the continued strength of the recovery in the Inland Empire housing market and will offer future residents large, 7,200 square-foot lots and a five-acre community park.
“We are delighted to be entering the California market,” said Dan Green, Wheelock principal and head of land acquisitions. “Stonehill Estates fits nicely with our investment criteria. The property is fully entitled, well located proximate to nearby job centers and situated in a market that is starting to show dynamic growth.”
Wheelock has been very active in its residential land acquisition strategy, having closed more than 16,000 residential lots across several states over the past three years. In California, the company will be targeting properties in the recovering areas of Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area.
“California will continue to be one of our markets of focus. We feel good about the future of the housing market here and we’re looking forward to finding additional opportunities for our investors,” Green said.
Wheelock expects to start developing Stonehill Estates, which is part of a larger master planned community, in the spring of 2014. The project is being managed by California land veteran Steve Thurtle, who brings more than 30 years of experience in this market.
The land brokers on the deal were Tom Dallape and Norm Scheel of the Hoffman Company.
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Wheelock was formed in 2008 by Rick Kleeman and Jonathan Paul, two veteran real estate private equity investors, each with over 20 years of broad real estate transaction experience across all major asset classes. Wheelock is currently investing its third fund and its first multi-investor discretionary opportunity fund, which consists of $525 million of committed capital. Wheelock’s first two funds were primarily funded by a single private institutional investor. Wheelock will invest in a broad range of real estate assets throughout the United States. The fund may invest directly or with high quality joint venture partners through a variety of capital structures and transaction types, including acquisitions, restructurings, and recapitalizations.
Wheelock has been an active investor in the residential land market having closed on properties containing over 16,000 residential lots during the last 36 months. Today, Wheelock is actively developing “best in class” master planned communities in Texas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. In addition, Wheelock purchased the assets of Atlanta-based John Wieland Homes in joint venture with the Wieland family in November 2012 and is now actively building homes in Atlanta, Charleston, Charlotte, Nashville, and Raleigh.
For more information, visit the Company’s website at www.wheelockst.com.
