BOSTON—Henley Investments, a U.K.-based private equity real estate investor and a driving force behind the rollout of Waterwalk Hotel & Apartments, is expanding to the United States.
Henley USA will operate the same opportunistic entrepreneurial platform as its European counterpart, seeking to invest in operators across the real-estate market with a particular focus on arbitrage, dislocation and distress.
Henley CEO Ian Rickwood commented, ”We see a real opportunity in the U.S. real estate market. Post the great recession, many high-quality innovative entrepreneurs have struggled to raise equity finance in an efficient manner to grow their operations; our model unlocks that. We are looking forward to working with great local operators.”
Henley USA has kicked off its operations by picking up Henley’s rollout of Waterwalk Hotel & Apartments, with the intention of opening five Waterwalk franchises in the near future. This follows Henley’s $100-million investment in the serviced-apartment brand created by lodging industry veteran Jack DeBoer.
Henley USA will open offices here and in Orange County, CA, and the firm will be headed by Garrett Solomon, the founder of Corbelis, a residential land development and management company.
Henley USA will launch with five U.S.-based team members. In addition, Henley USA and Corbelis will create a new venture called Henley Corbelis, which will continue the existing Corbelis business and act as an operator on direct deals when appropriate, according to the company.