Private equity real estate investment firm South Street Partners has raised over $225m (€220m) for its debut fund, exceeding an initial $100m target.

The manager said the SSP GP Fund I fund will target opportunistic, value-added and special situation investment opportunities in real estate assets located in the Southeastern US states as well as select US and international markets.

The fund – which will mainly target upscale and luxury resort and residential opportunities – has acquired the 20,000-acre Palmetto Bluff residential club and resort community in Bluffton, South Carolina and the Kiawah Partners portfolio of real estate and operating assets located South of Broad in Charleston, South Carolina.

“As a former fund-less sponsor raising capital on a deal-by-deal basis, reaching the closing of our inaugural US discretionary commingled fund is a major achievement,” said Chris Randolph, a partner at South Street Partners.

Patrick Melton, co-founder and managing partner of South Street Partners, said: “The current environment and demographic trends in our markets of focus create significant opportunities for the fund’s investment strategy.

“We believe our history of sourcing and executing a wide range of complicated transactions throughout various stages of the market cycle while providing excellent returns to our investors over the last decade is one of the main reasons investor appetite was so strong.”

Todd Whitenack, co-managing partner of BBR Partners, whose firm’s clients anchored the fund, said: “Our firm was delighted to be part of this raise and we believe the strong interest from our clients is related to South Street’s track record, unique value proposition as well as the relevance of the strategy in the post-Covid world.”

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