Mark Schuster, founder and president of the Schuster Group, a Seattle-based real estate development and investment firm, is soliciting investors to join his firm's most ambitious fund to date. Schuster recently launched a $100 million invitation-only private real estate investment fund, which he expects will grow to $1 billion in real estate assets over the next 10 years. Moreover, Schuster notes, all projects in the portfolio will employ the highest green building standards available.
The Schuster Group has a decent track record for delivering on its promises. It provided more than a 20 percent return to backers of its previous $15 million fund, which closed in 2001 and is now worth $150 million, according to Schuster.
The company’s most recent project, Mosler Lofts, a 150-unit downtown Seattle condo tower designed by Seattle-based architecture firm Mithun, is slated to receive a Silver Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). All but four of the units in the 12-story tower were sold by the time it opened in October 2007, Schuster says.
“It costs more to build green—in the actual materials, the consulting fees and the paperwork,” Schuster says. “But there are marketing benefits if you know how to take advantage of them.” The U.S. green building industry is worth about $12 billion, according to USGBC.
Renovated buildings can lead to 3.5 percent higher occupancy rates and a 7.5 percent increase in value, according to a 2006 McGraw-Hill report. The Schuster Group’s assets currently total $250 million.
Source: SustainableIndustries.com