Lion Real Estate Group Closes First Multifamily Fund With 28.4% Net IRR

Lion Real Estate Group has closed its first institutional multifamily fund, delivering a 28.4% net internal rate of return and a 1.9x multiple to investors across a portfolio of value-add apartment communities spanning nine U.S. markets.

Launched in 2017, Marble Partners Fund I raised $35 million in equity and leveraged co-investment capital to $200 million, ultimately acquiring $505 million in multifamily properties across Texas, the Southeast and the intermountain West. The fund’s 15 properties totaled 3,503 units in Austin, Dallas, Durham, Chicago, Portland, Denver, Salt Lake City, Phoenix and Atlanta.

“The winding up of our Marble Partners Fund I represents an incredible milestone for Lion, especially having delivered such remarkable returns to our investors in the midst of an extended down-market cycle,” said Ben Kriegsman, vice president of global capital markets at Lion Real Estate Group.

The strong performance sets the stage for the firm’s continued expansion. Co-CEO Jeff Weller said the lessons learned from the inaugural fund are directly informing the firm’s active vehicles and upcoming pipeline.

“We’re confident that our strategy from Marble Partners Fund I and the lessons learned along the way continues to position us to drive performance for our Fund II, Fund III and future acquisitions as we prepare to launch Fund IV later this year,” Weller said.

Founded in 2007 by Mory Barak and Jeff Weller, Lion Real Estate Group is a vertically integrated real estate investment and management firm specializing in value-add multifamily properties across the Sun Belt and Southeast.