Director, Multifamily Acquisitions

Description

Ram Realty Advisors LLC ("Ram") is a real estate investment management firm specializing in multifamily, mixed-use, and grocery-anchored retail in select high-growth markets throughout the Southeast. The firm’s portfolio comprises assets across the investment risk spectrum, including core-plus, value-add, and opportunistic strategies. Founded in 1978, Ram and its predecessor entities have deployed over $5.0 billion of capital on behalf of institutional partners. The firm is headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and has offices in Tampa, Florida; Charlotte and Chapel Hill, North Carolina; and Nashville, Tennessee.

We are hiring a Director, Multifamily Acquisitions who will be responsible for sourcing, underwriting, and closing acquisition opportunities in an assigned market, including (i) value-add multifamily acquisitions and (ii) site identification for the development of multifamily, retail, and mixed-use projects. The Director, Multi-family Acquisitions is the primary team member charged with the generation of acquisition and development opportunities in an assigned market. Their top priority is the identification and successful pursuit of investments that are consistent with Ram’s stated objectives. The Director must have a comprehensive understanding of how to value both acquisition (value-add) and development projects, ideally across multifamily, retail, and mixed-use assets. The Ram team will rely on the Director to be the market expert in their assigned geography.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES And RESPONSIBILITIES

• Establish and cultivate relationships with the brokerage community, property owners, landowners, civic organizations, government officials, other developers, and additional industry participants to generate consistent deal flow.
• Maintain a deep working knowledge of each market and submarket in the assigned territory. The knowledge extends beyond simply knowing what opportunities are available to include (a) competitor activities, (b) market trends, (c) local politics and growth management policies, (d) regional economic development trends, and (e) changes in capital markets and asset/land prices.
• Participate as subject matter expert in the periodic review of investment strategy. Active dialogue, open debate, and a healthy exchange of ideas are encouraged.
• Effectively screen, source, and evaluate potential investment opportunities against Ram’s investment criteria, including initiating direct contact with property owners and/or their representatives, in an efficient manner to determine viability and use of company resources. This specifically includes “cold calling” ownership directly, where appropriate.
• Identify opportunities for value creation through rezoning, redevelopment, assemblage, and other enhancements to a property’s use, density, positioning, or operational strategy.
• Obtain and review all relevant information from property owners and their representatives to assist in valuation, including cursory due diligence of public information (e.g., zoning, transaction history, competing rents) and internal market data (e.g., existing portfolio data, prior offering memoranda, recent cost information).
• Prepare underwriting on potential acquisitions, including financial analysis and business plan generation in collaboration with asset management and/or development. The analysis may also be performed by an Analyst and/or Associate, in which case the Director will be responsible for a detailed review of the work product.
• Collaborate with developer(s), construction manager(s), and asset manager(s) regarding potential business plans and ideas for value creation.
• Summarize the analysis, profit/return potential, and risk factors, and make pursuit and bid recommendations to the VP of Investments and senior management.
• Draft letter of intent (LOI) to purchase and present (upon approval from the VP of Investments) to the broker and/or owner.
• Negotiate the LOI and purchase contract (with assistance from legal counsel), function as ongoing liaison with the seller through closing.
• Oversee the acquisition process, including managing due diligence, performing site visits and market tours, ordering, and reviewing third-party reports, and facilitating closing.
• Provide support to the developer or asset manager (depending upon the nature of the transaction) throughout the due diligence process, including final preparation of presentation materials for the Investment Committee (IC).
• Prepare IC materials and present findings and the investment recommendation to IC.
• Represent Ram at conferences and industry events and actively participate in civic organizations.
  
  

Provide leadership, mentoring, professional guidance, and direction to the Analyst and/or Associate (where applicable).

Requirements

These requirements represent the education, knowledge, skill, certifications/licensure, and/or ability required to perform the job satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties noted above.

• An undergraduate degree, preferably with a real estate, finance, or business major. An MBA or advanced degree with an emphasis on real estate development or finance is a plus.
• Minimum of seven years of hands-on transactional experience. Backgrounds may include real estate (acquisitions, investment sales, development, or asset management) as well as financial institutions (debt or equity capital, investment banking, private equity, or principal investing) and brokerage. Experience does not need to come exclusively from a real estate operating company; the candidate should have progressive accomplishments that demonstrate increased responsibility across a variety of related functions (e.g., site acquisition, brokerage, capital markets, analyst, etc.).
• Demonstrated entrepreneurial mindset and ability to proactively originate opportunities in competitive markets.
• Familiarity with entitlement, zoning, permitting, infrastructure, and predevelopment processes associated with ground-up development projects.
• A demonstrated track record of getting deals underwritten and delivered – moving opportunities from sourcing through underwriting, negotiation, and successful closing. Experience, relationships, and a proven track record of sourcing and closing transactions in the assigned market are highly valued. Experience in the Charlotte, Triangle, Nashville, and/or Atlanta markets is a plus.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel (and preferably Argus), as the Director will produce, review, and analyze relatively complex project budgets and financial projections.
• Strong presentation experience, preferably for projects with a total capitalization of at least $50 million.
• Must be able to analyze and interpret econometric research, government/zoning regulations, property-level financial statements, and basic real estate-related legal documents. Direct experience negotiating letters of intent and purchase and sale agreements is highly preferred.
  
  

Skills

The Director should have a general working knowledge of what is required to fully execute an investment (i.e., “round trip a deal”). It is unrealistic, however, to expect the Director to be an expert in each part of the process. As a result, there are key skills that must be cultivated to successfully fulfill the role:

• Analytical Skills – strong attention to detail; evaluation of complex financial projections; consideration of technical issues, market conditions, and impact to projected risk-adjusted investment returns.
• Critical Thinking – evaluation of alternative concepts; assessing and discerning competing opinions and facts; synthesizing varied financial scenarios with a specific focus on the relationship between risk and reward.
• Communication Skills – both in writing and verbally, preferably including experience with the following: (a) presenting information to a prospective investor, lender, or investment committee, (b) advocating for a client/principal as the preferred buyer, and (c) participating in professional forums. The ability to actively listen is equally, if not more, important.
• Interpersonal Skills – including social intelligence, situational awareness, and political acumen. The acquisition process involves varied constituents and requires problem-solving skills and an ability to effectively persuade sellers.