Real Estate Acquisition Services
Unlocking Value for Business Owners Through Acquisitions
Royal Oak looks for opportunities to acquire commercial real estate through brokered and non-brokered opportunities. The monetization of real estate assets may make strategic and financial sense to separate the value of the real estate from the value of the business.
Selling your real estate to Royal Oak Realty Trust allows property owners – who frequently also own the business occupying the property – to monetize a commercial real estate asset and redeploy that capital into their core business.
Working with Royal Oak to acquire your property can potentially provide potential tax efficiencies as well as the ability to use the proceeds of the sale to pay off a mortgage or other long-term debt – which can strengthen the company’s balance sheet.
Show Me How I Can Unlock The Value of My Real Estate
Real Estate Acquisitions Criteria
Profile: Single-tenant, triple and absolute net leased properties (individual buildings or portfolios)
Building Type: Primary focus on Industrial (manufacturing /distribution) but will also acquire Office, Call Centers and Medical
Transaction Size: $5 to $35 million
Tenants: Credit-worthy tenants, including public, private or P/E owned, operating in a broad range of industries
Lease Term: Long-term leases, typically with a remaining term of 10+ years and structured at or below market rents
Geography: Typically located within 25 miles of a top 75 MSA with a focus in the Northeast, Midwest, South and Southwest
Why Work with Royal Oak to Sell Your Real Estate? – “Win-Win” Outcomes
Royal Oak is a well-capitalized, all-cash buyer with no financing contingencies. We have an extensive, proven network of third-party and legal due-diligence experts that allow us to close real estate transactions quickly and efficiently.
Royal Oak offers flexible leaseback terms that help business owners (the former property owners) to achieve at or below market rental rates, more attractive renewal options, and certainty about future obligations.
Sellers also benefit from locking in a clear, long-term plan for the use of their real estate, which can help with business succession and ownership transition in the future.
Structuring Your Real Estate Acquisition
Royal Oak offers creative and flexible leaseback structures and work towards “win-win” outcomes with each transaction.
Here are some of the most common acquisition structures:
Broker Partnerships
At Royal Oak Realty Trust, we value our relationships with commercial real estate brokers and encourage them to make Royal Oak the first contact when a reliable, all cash buyer is needed.
Sale-Leaseback
In a sale-leaseback, a business owner sells the real estate it owns to Royal Oak while simultaneously signing a long-term lease to continue to occupy and use the property. This is the most common acquisition transaction for Royal Oak. Royal Oak then acts as a stable and supportive landlord willing to continue to invest additional capital for upgrades and improvements.
Such leases are frequently structured on a “triple net” basis. In a triple net lease, the business owner continues to retain operational control over the property and is responsible for the majority of property and operational expenses, including property taxes in exchange for a lower monthly rent.
A sale-leaseback transaction allows property owners – who are also the owner of the business occupying the property – to monetize the value of their real estate and reinvest in their business or pay down debt.
UPREIT
A Section 721 UPREIT exchange is a tax deferral/tax avoidance strategy for property owners facing capital gain tax liabilities on the sale of appreciated property with a low tax basis. In an UPREIT transaction, property owners exchange their real estate for operating partnership units (“OP units”) from Royal Oak. OP units can be converted to common shares over time.
An UPREIT exchange offers property owners the ability to convert illiquid, long-term assets (i.e., real estate) with low tax basis into more saleable securities while diversifying their real estate holdings from one property into a portfolio of properties.
Sellers benefit from strong portfolio diversification, monthly income distributions, professional management, as well as tax and estate planning flexibility.
Joint Venture
Royal Oak will also partner with institutional investors, real estate developers and other firms to acquire portfolios of single tenant, net-leased real estate assets that fit our acquisitions criteria. Royal Oak has also worked with private equity firms to provide acquisition support through a simultaneous acquisitions/sale-leaseback transaction.
The success of Royal Oak Realty Trust is largely based on our ability to provide net lease real estate solutions to property owners and tenants. If you are seeking to monetize a commercial real estate asset; find a landlord who works as your partner; or develop a creative real estate solution to fit your specific business situation, Royal Oak can help.
The Royal Oak Acquisitions Team
Bruce E. Bender Chief Investment Officer
Bruce E. Bender is Vice President, Chief Investment Officer and Assistant Secretary of the Corporation. He also serves as the Vice President of Acquisitions of the Asset Manager, Cambridge Street Asset Management LLC. In this position, he evaluates, recommends and acquires commercial real estate on behalf of Royal Oak. Bruce is a partner in Cambridge Street Asset Management LLC.
Bruce has over 30 years in the industry, and Bruce has acquired a unique blend of commercial real estate experience with involvement in all aspects of real estate transactions including purchasing, selling, financing and leasing. Prior to joining Royal Oak, Bruce spent 15 years at Xerox Corporation where he held numerous management positions in its global real estate organization. Throughout this time, he was directly responsible for acquisitions, facility management, and real estate strategy. Before his Xerox experience, Bruce handled certain commercial real estate responsibilities for Monro Muffler Brake and Wegmans Food Markets.
Bruce earned an MBA in Finance and Corporate Accounting from the Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of South Florida in Tampa, FL. He has been a licensed Real Estate Broker in New York State since 1998 and is a certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.
Brian Peartree Director of Real Estate Acquisitions
Brian Peartree - bio coming soon!
Brian Peartree
Director of Real Estate Acquisitions
(585) 434-1669
bpeartree@royaloakrealtytrust.com
Hank Wedow Director of Real Estate Acquisitions
Hank Wedow serves as Director of Real Estate Acquisitions for the Asset Manager, Cambridge Street Asset Management LLC. In this position, he assists in the evaluation, recommendation and acquisition of commercial real estate on behalf of Royal Oak.
Hank Wedow began his commercial real estate career as an Analyst at Townhouse Partners Consulting, a boutique consulting firm in New York City where he was responsible for the underwriting of commercial real estate properties and portfolios prepared for CMBS securitization on behalf of major lending institutions. Prior to joining Royal Oak, he served as an Analyst at a regional real estate development company.
Hank earned a BA in Financial Economics from the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY.
