Venture Between R2 Companies And Goldman Sachs Plants A Flag In The Gold Coast

CHICAGO, May 12, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- R2 Companies ("R2"), a Chicago based real estate investment firm, and AIMS Real Estate ("AIMS RE"), a business unit of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, announced a strategic partnership to recapitalize the office property at 1165 North Clark Street in Chicago's Gold Coast.

Initially acquired in July 2013, R2 has signed ten new leases in the 100,000 square foot building including Gold Coast Bank and Assemble™, a Chicago-based shared office operator. The property is also home to a branch of CVS Health at the corner of Clark Street and Division Street. R2 has completed significant renovations to the building.

"We believed strongly in this location for office and retail when we bought the asset in 2013. We have executed our plan, bringing occupancy to almost 100% and modernizing the building," said Max Meyers, Chief Investment Officer at R2. "We have made great strides in repositioning this asset thus far, and we believe that with Goldman as our partner we can fully reposition the property into a core asset."

1165 North Clark is in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood and is one of many projects taking place at the corner of Clark and Division. In 2012, the CTA announced a major renovation and extension of its Clark/Division Red-line station. Fifield Companies is scheduled to break ground on a 35-story apartment tower above a brand new 56,000 square foot Jewel-Osco this summer. And, Fred Latsko's Structure Management Midwest LLC has announced plans for a retail and apartment re-development at 1201 North Clark Street.

"This structure will provide significant returns to our original investors and unlock the value we have already created, while enabling us to continue to reposition the property with an emphasis on the retail space and unimproved parking lot," said Matt Garrison, R2's Managing Principal.

This is the third acquisition between R2 and Goldman Sachs in downtown Chicago and their fifth project as a venture.

About R2 Companies
R2 Companies ("R2") is a privately held, fully integrated real estate investment firm based in Chicago, Illinois. R2 is an opportunistic firm that invests its own capital alongside a select group of institutional partners, making it an active and highly vested manager and operator. R2 currently owns and operates more than 1.5 million square feet of commercial real estate in Chicago and Minneapolis and has a multi-year track record of realizing superior risk-adjusted returns utilizing various investment strategies across market cycles. The R2 platform is designed to be nimble, able to quickly and deftly shift strategies and allocations in response to changing market conditions. For more information, please visit www.R2.me.

About Goldman Sachs Asset Management
Goldman Sachs Asset Management is the asset management arm of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS), which has approximately $1.02 trillion of assets under supervision as of March 31, 2015. Goldman Sachs Asset Management has been providing discretionary investment advisory services since 1988 and has investment professionals in all major financial centers around the world. The company offers investment strategies across a broad range of asset classes to institutional and individual clients globally. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm that provides a wide range of financial services to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and high-net-worth individuals.

For additional information please contact +1 312 226 9737 or e-mail [email protected]

SOURCE R2 Companies

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