Seneca Capital Partners, a leading national real estate investment firm, announced today the final closing of Seneca Capital Income Real Estate Fund III, L.P. (“Fund III”), significantly over-subscribed at nearly $70 million in total equity raised, well above its original target at $50 million. With leverage, Seneca expects SCIRE Fund III to include $200 million worth of assets – continuing their thesis to own and operate “workforce housing” in major U.S. markets.
Managed by Seneca Capital Partners’ investment management company, Seneca Capital Management, the Fund received strong support from existing investors and convincing participation from new investors including: fund to funds, single- and multi-family offices, Registered Investment Advisors and high net worth individuals.
Led by Seneca’s Founder and CEO, Rhett Trees, and its COO, Paul Luber, Fund III marks the firm’s largest fundraise to date and is a conclusive 2.5x increase from the nearly $28 million of commitments raised for the predecessor fund, Seneca Capital Income Real Estate Fund II, L.P. that closed in September 2019.
Historically, Seneca has looked to acquire workforce housing communities that reside in hyper-growth cities in what they refer to as the winking SMILE states, spanning from Washington, down through Idaho into the sunbelt states with a keen focus on Texas, Florida, and North Carolina with the SMILE ending in Virginia.
“We are grateful for our investment partners’ confidence in our team,” said Rhett Trees, CEO of Seneca Capital Partners. “The fact that we easily doubled the size of our previous fund in less than 4 months from first close to final close, during a global pandemic, demonstrates the investor appetite and conviction for our firm’s track record, real estate expertise, creativity and our early recognition of the significant tailwinds in the workforce housing sector and our ability to provide a path to home-ownership for the hard working Americans who are the backbone of our economy.”
Seneca aims to own and operate clean, safe and affordable housing communities with a spotlight on workforce or attainable housing for residents who do not fit into the traditional path to home ownership.
