New Latin American board member part of inbound capital trend 

Birmingham-based GCP has appointed Francisco Colchero to its four-member board. Colchero is founder and chief executive officer of Devon Investments SpA, an asset management company based in Santiago, Chile. His participation on the board reflects GCP’s growth as a destination for direct foreign investment in U.S. industrial real estate and his company’s investment in GCP.

Devon’s investment is part of Blue Ceiba Advisor’s commitment to providing between $75 million to $100 million in growth capital for GCP. Blue Ceiba, an investment management company with offices in Mexico City and New York, focuses on providing access to “off market” direct real estate opportunities in high growth U.S. markets.

“In addition to Devon, we’re bringing interested Latin Americans to invest in GCP because we believe in the company’s ability to deliver stable returns over time,” said Jaime Garcia, principal partner and founder of Blue Ceiba. Garcia’s typical clients are high net worth families and institutional investors from Latin America and Europe.

Colchero joins three other directors on the GCP board, including Garcia of Blue Ceiba as well as founding board members Mike and Steve Graham.

“We believe the U.S. industrial asset class is becoming more relevant for institutional investors,” Colchero said. “We see how key logistics and industrial assets are for the economy, and we like GCP’s dynamic growth in the Southeast. GCP has experience in development and management, and they’ve brought in external management and promoted internal talent to key positions. Their combination of substantial expertise in the asset class, the Graham family’s equity investment and the company’s professional management create a strong investment thesis for us. We believe we’ll be great partners with GCP.”

The United States continues to lead other countries as an attractive place for foreign capital. A recent survey by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE) showed that 65 percent of respondents sought to increase their U.S. investments, with no respondents planning a major decrease. Office, hotel and industrial are the asset classes preferred by foreign investors, a Jones Lang LaSalle report says, and in the fourth quarter of 2015 industrial outpaced office as the top destination for foreign capital.

“The U.S. real estate market has proven to be the safest market for many years,” said Garcia of Blue Ceiba. “The legal system, transparency, currency and growth have placed U.S. markets as the most attractive markets worldwide. And we’re exploring additional opportunities to invest in the Southeastern United States. We believe this region will experience positive demographic and economic growth in the next 10 to 15 years, and the real estate sector will benefit from such growth.”

GCP President Gardner Lee, a 24-year industrial real estate veteran, said, “Francisco and Jaime bring incredible experience and expertise to our board. As we look to double our portfolio over the next 12-18 months in high-growth Southeast cities, we appreciate the value they bring in terms of understanding global financial markets and in helping us attract additional foreign investment.”

Colchero has a strong financial background, having graduated from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and having spent several years as a chief executive officer of Devon, an asset management firm with considerable real estate investment experience across a variety of asset classes and geographies. Colchero brings a global perspective to the GCP board, as Devon invests in asset classes across global markets in multiple sectors, including office and industrial.

Colchero was introduced to GCP through Garcia at Blue Ceiba, who brings extensive expertise in the real estate industry to the GCP board as well. Garcia has a Master of Urbanism & Real Estate Development from the University of Pennsylvania in collaboration with The Wharton Business School and a background in the industrial sector through his tenure at Prologis.

Iron Tree Capital, an Atlanta-based real estate investment manager, invested in GCP alongside Blue Ceiba and Devon. Bill Fryer, a partner and co-founder of Iron Tree and investment manager for Blue Ceiba and Devon, observed, “This trend towards more investment from Latin America is reminiscent of the mid-1970s when Atlanta first experienced a wave of capital from German and Dutch investors, initially in undeveloped land, farms and timber. Today, it’s a similar phenomenon, only from Latin Americans, who are likewise migrating from purely residential investments in major coastal cities to commercial real estate. I would expect to see more Latin American investment across the principal real estate asset classes in the Southeast.”

Fryer, who served as a director for 17 years for Edens, the $4 billion plus, Columbia, S.C., retail shopping center company, noted, “We’re excited about our investment in GCP. We have strong conviction on the performance prospects for industrial in GCP’s target markets and believe GCP will be successful in implementing successfully the same growth playbook employed by Edens.”

John Hagefstration, executive vice president and general counsel of GCP, added, “Our team understands the market fundamentals as well as the combined forces the e-commerce boom, population growth, expanding global supply chain and last mile logistics are having on industrial real estate. We use this knowledge to acquire properties that are a great investment right now so that we can get above average returns over long hold periods.” Hagefstration was formerly a partner at Bradley, Alabama’s largest law firm.

GCP currently controls approximately 5.5 million square feet of industrial space in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. Founded in 2013 by seasoned real estate leaders, GCP has expanded quickly with strategic asset purchases in Charlotte and Atlanta markets, and now is focused on acquisitions in Orlando, Tampa, Atlanta, Nashville and Charlotte.

About GCP

Birmingham, Ala.-based GCP is one of the 40 largest industrial owners of real estate in the U.S., with strategically located midsize bulk distribution properties in fast growing markets across the Southeast. GCP owns facilities that meet the needs of e-commerce companies operating in the global supply chain and concerned with moving goods that critical last mile. GCP’s experienced leadership and efficient management are fueling a growth path that is increasing the scale, value and geographic footprint of the company’s portfolio while creating long-term, above-average returns for investors. For more information, please visit www.gcprei.com.