Chris Powers from Fort Capital will be sharing with us his experience investing in, owning, and operating industrial buildings and warehouses in Texas.
Chris will share with us:
Why Texas?
Why industrial real estate and warehouse real estate?
Chris will help us learn why industrial real estate is such an excellent place to invest and maybe he'll help us understand something he recently "tweeted"...
"In a hot market with significant rent growth, buildings with vacancy can be worth more than buildings fully occupied."
I have had the privilege of investing with Fort Capital and I look forward to future opportunities to invest again.
Chris hosts a very interesting podcast whereby he interviews successful people from various industries...this podcast is definitely worth checking out...
About Fort Capital:
Fort Capital was founded in 2005 as a Texas-based, privately-owned real estate investment firm. Over the years, Fort Capital has built a track record of acquiring more than $584M in assets throughout Texas including Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, and El Paso. Our team is dedicated to acquiring and managing income-producing, institutional-quality Class B Industrial & Flex assets throughout the major Texas markets.
Our capabilities include investment, acquisition, asset management, and property management. We are dedicated to providing exceptional returns to our investors and stakeholders through a thoughtful approach to investing, financing, and operating prime Industrial, Commercial, and Urban Core real estate.
About Chris:
Founder / Executive Chairman of Fort Capital.
Chris is a serial entrepreneur with more than 16 years of real estate development and investment experience. He founded Fort Capital in 2005, and to date, the company has invested over $584M in Class B industrial, commercial, multifamily, student housing, and residential / land development projects throughout the state of Texas.
Chris’s ability to conceptualize, raise capital, and execute are only a small part of what Chris brings to the table as Fort Capital’s Executive Chairman. With a belief that investing time in people is the best investment that can be made, Chris has built a strong network that has helped catapult Fort to where it is today. The drive to always remain curious and desire to connect and learn from others led Chris to start his podcast, The FORT Podcast, in 2019. With 100+ episodes published to date, Chris shares raw business conversations with business leaders and entrepreneurs through this platform.
Chris graduated with a BBA in Finance & Marketing from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX. Innovative, ethics-driven, people-focused, community-minded, and passionate about ideas that matter, Chris’s professional philosophy remains the same as his personal one: “Tell the truth and be nice to people.” Chris is a member of the Fort Worth YPO Chapter. He lives in Fort Worth, TX with his wife, Mikal, and their daughters, Palmer and Connor.
Timeline:
Introduction
1:15 – Next MIG meeting is November 10
2:00 – Commercial – SMK Capital Self-Storage Fund
3:00 – Introduction of Chris Powers
4:35 – Chris’ podcast – THE FORT
5:10 – Chris’ presentation starts
5:35 – Chris’ background
10:30 – Decision to focus on one (1) real estate asset class
11:00 – Decision to focus on Class B Industrial real estate
12:00 – All about Fort Capital
13:00 – Major Texas markets
19:07 – Discussion about Fort Capital’s technology team and how they use technology to research, identify, prospect for, and reach out to “qualified” owners of industrial real estate
22:00 – Partnering with real estate brokers and developing incentive structures for brokers
25:30 – David’s comments about what makes Fort Capital stand out
28:35 – Questions from Joel regarding working with brokers and a discussion about inside acquisitions teams versus outside /independent acquisitions partners
33:20 – Observations about 3rd party acquisitions versus in house
36:05 – Why is Chris LONG on Texas?
39:35 – Why Class B Industrial real estate?
50:25 – Location / Location / Location
50:45 – Interesting statistic about “the last mile” and how that leads to demand for “infill” locations
52:05 – How would an investor get started with Fort Capital?
52:30 – Chris explains the investor onboarding process
54:30 – Discussion about normal deal structures and offerings from Fort Capital
57:35 – Fort Capital sees their investors as customers
58:40 – What does a typical Fort Capital deal look like in general
59:50 – What is the tax situation in Texas? Property taxes vs income taxes, etc.
1:01:15 – Chris explains a Tweet about how a vacant property could be worth more than a fully leased property
1:04:15 – Cap rates?
1:07:13 – Some investors treat Fort Capital as a “fund” by pre-committing to future acquisitions
1:09:25 – Discussion about acquisition strategies as related to vacancy and rent raises
1:12:15 – Difference between multi-family apartments and industrial real estate
1:14:00 – END