ARA was founded in 1988 in Glendale, California. The firm has provided investment management services since its inception through individual client separate accounts and a series of commingled funds since the firm's inception. In November 2003, the company launched an open-end core real estate commingled fund with the goal of creating a portfolio of income-oriented commercial real estate diversified by property type, location, and economic exposure. As of the latest SEC filing in October 2014, this portfolio had grown to net assets of over $3.9B, and contained 149 properties nationwide, comprising approximately 24.4 million square feet of office, retail, industrial, and residential space. In December 2009, ARA launched a value-added fund which focuses on office, industrial, multi-family and retail properties. According to the company's April 2017 Investment Advisor disclosure, the fund had grown to just over USD$926 million. The firm has undertaken several industrial developments, the largest of which was a 29-acre site in the San Francisco Bay area, which was developed into the largest industrial warehouse ever built in the Bay Area. The project was developed in partnership with McShane Companies/Conor Commercial. It has stated plans to continue to invest in markets and assets that offer the potential for superior, long-term income growth and that are competitively located in markets that can provide a favorable rent growth environment. In 2016, ARA completed one of the largest transactions of the year in the San Francisco office market with the acquisition of Foundry Square III, a class A trophy office asset, reportedly for $350 million. The property consists of a 10-story, 291,093-square-foot office building that includes ground floor retail space, and is a block from the Transbay Transit Center. In June 2017, the company relocated its headquarters to Los Angeles.
Markets
Target markets the company has identified for investment include major "innovation hubs" such as NY City, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Washington DC and the Los Angeles/Orange County Metro area. Its investors include a broad range of public employee retirements systems, Taft-Hartley and corporate pension funds, foundations, endowments, and other institutional investors.
Sustainability/green initiatives
The firm has a focus on sustainability for its commercial real estate portfolio, and is recognized as a Premier Member of Certification Nation by ENERGY STAR, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program. As of January 2015, the firm had 37 LEED-certified properties. In December 2014, the firm launched additional sustainability initiatives encompassing energy and water conservation, and recycling programs. The company expects these sustainability efforts to boost asset value and net operating income for its real estate assets.
Specialized advisory services
ARA works with labor unions and contractors/management to invest in commercial real estate development projects and other real estate assets seeking to achieve solid investment returns on behalf of their related pension plans, as well as to enhance the opportunity for the creation of local jobs for active union members. In addition, the firm updates the qpam.com web site, offering research and educational resources about the role of a qualified professional asset manager to act on behalf of trustees of pension plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 who include real estate as part of their asset allocation strategy.
