R.E. firm ready to amass $150M fund

Two former principals with Cypress Real Estate Advisors have formed a new real estate firm with plans to raise $150 million in investment capital early next year. The strategy is to invest the money in Sunbelt cities.

Kenneth Aboussie and John Kiltz are launching Stonelake Capital Partners to invest in urban multifamily and mixed-use properties from Arizona to Florida. The two real estate pros both spent the last four years as partners with private equity firm Cypress, where Aboussie directed capital markets activities and the firm's Mexico business and Kiltz oversaw U.S. acquisitions.

Kiltz says Stonelake will raise the money from pension funds and other institutional investors.

"Based on the track record of investing we've done and the returns we've been able to achieve for Cypress investors, we think that performance will attract institutional capital," says Kiltz. "And it's a good time to begin the process, in our opinion."

The company will start by investing in the primary Texas markets where job growth is high, eventually moving into other Sunbelt cities.

"The Sunbelt is going to continue to have good job-creation fundamentals and good in-migration as people continue to move south from up north," says Kiltz. He also sees plenty of opportunity in core markets for redeveloping aging urban infill properties with a new purpose.

Travis Eickenhorst, also formerly with Cypress, has joined Stonelake as a vice president.

Kiltz estimates the initial team will number about five to seven, with growth beyond that as the firm expands its portfolio.

During Aboussie and Kiltz's tenure, Cypress invested in a number of local projects such as downtown's Block 19, where Compass Learning built its new headquarters and where the The Austonian condo tower is now being constructed.

Cypress also handled the property on the northwest corner of Sixth Street and West Avenue, where The Lofts on Shoal Creek is currently going up.

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source: bizjournals.com