CGI Merchant Group Acquires Class A Office Portfolio in South East Florida

MIAMI - April 6, 2013 - PRLog -- CGI Merchant Group (“CGI” or “Sponsor”), and its operating partner, AFIN Developer Group (“ADG”) announced today  the acquisition of the Office Commons Portfolio (the “Commons”), which is compromised of four Class A office buildings containing approximately 200,000 gross square in Wellington, Stuart, and West Palm Beach, Florida. The portfolio was sold by an affiliate of Wells Fargo Bank. The four buildings were originally developed by  The Crexent Business Centers to cater the specific needs of executive and small corporate tenants in burgeoning and affluent sub-markets of Southeast Florida.

CGI’s investment platform is focused on value oriented commercial property and infrastructure investments. The Sponsor was able to oversubscribe the transaction and secure financing under attractive terms from a national lender. The Sponsor's plan is to lease up the property and achieve stabilization within 18 months. The average occupancy across the portfolio is 65%.

The Commons acquisition was a joint effort under a strategic partnership sponsored by CGI and ADG. CGI combined its investment management and capital markets expertise with the operational and hands-on value creation capabilities of ADG to close on the first of a pipeline of property acquisitions  across  South Florida.

“CGI originally operated as an infrastructure and real property advisory firm, providing strategic advisory and capital solutions to clients not only in the real estate sector, but for telecom, agriculture, energy, and public infrastructure projects as well. Today,  CGI has evolved into a discretionary investment manager concentrated on developing integrated operating platforms that focus on property repositionings and ground-up developments.” says Raoul Thomas, CEO of CGI Merchant Group.

“This acquisition is an example of the opportunities we focus on – those which can be acquired at a relatively attractive basis, and where market fundamentals adequately support our investment strategy. We focus our efforts on identifying non-systematic risk to best understand how to reposition each asset to achieve the highest possible risk-adjusted returns without relying on improvement in overall market conditions. Our goal over the next 24 months is to establish a strong presence in our target markets through continued real estate acquisitions  and development projects where and when it makes sense,” said Mr. Thomas.

About CGI Merchant Group

CGI Merchant Group, LLC is an investment management and merchant banking firm specializing in investment & asset management, capital markets and advisory activities in the commercial real estate and infrastructure sectors. CGI has two operating divisions, one which is responsible for all of the company’s commercial real estate and infrastructure advisory activities, an the other which handles all of the firm’s investments and asset management activities.

About AFIN Developer Group

AFIN Developer Group, LLC is an established developer and operator in South Florida with broad-based experience in land and commercial development. Since its inception ADG has built its reputation on navigating complex projects and challenging conventional methods of growing and operating a successful development company. ADG’s portfolio comprises over 600,000 square feet of commercial office and retail space in South Florida. ADG traces its roots to Argentina where the company commenced its property management and development activities.