After nearly a decade at TruAmerica, Matt Ferrari decided to leave his role as co-chief investment officer of one of the country's most active multifamily investors to launch his own venture named after the world’s tallest mountain.
It's not a coincidence: Ferrari is making the move after climbing Mount Everest this year. While he was deep in the Himalayas, he and his capital partners finalized the terms of the deal that led to the launch of PXV Multifamily this month. The experience showed how an important lesson he learned in real estate negotiations helped him in climbing: surround yourself with the right people.
There's another property and climbing connection: PXV refers to Peak XV, the 19th-century name for Mount Everest. PXV Multifamily is backed by funds from real estate private equity group BroadVail Capital Partners, with plans to acquire more than $2 billion of so-called mismanaged multifamily assets over the next three years, Ferrari told CoStar News in an interview.
There is "a lot of opportunity to find mismanaged deals or sellers that need to sell" because of what's happened in the multifamily investment market over the past few years, "with the reset in values, upside down capital stacks" and inexperienced apartment operators, Ferrari said.
Ferrari is launching PXV Multifamily in Miami with plans to build the company’s portfolio using its own capital or through joint ventures with limited partners. The initial focus will be on individual properties and portfolios comprising 1980s-era and newer apartment complexes with 150 units or more throughout the country.
The company is focused on “finding the right deals,” Ferrari said. "It's really about the specific piece of real estate today.”
PXV Multifamily is currently finalizing the search for office space in Miami’s Brickell financial district and is “wrapping up” building out the rest of the team, he said.
On top of the world
For Ferrari, he views the training he did to get ready to climb the world's tallest mountain as the same way he went about orchestrating $11 billion in apartment deals throughout his tenure at Los Angeles-based TruAmerica.
Ferrari began climbing about a decade ago as a way to see the world, he said. Not only did climbing and learning how to navigate real estate negotiations required him to surround himself with “the right people" and mentors, he added.
Whether it was underwriting "hundreds of deals" with constant traveling and touring apartment properties, or physical training to get ready to scale Mount Everest, both took "years and years of what some would call boring and monotonous work" to get him where he is today, Ferrari said.
And it seems to have paid off. BroadVail Capital Partners spent nearly three years looking for the right person to lead the Houston-based private equity firm's entrance into the traditional multifamily sector and Ferrari's experience stood out as "incredibly unique,” said Robby Zorich, managing partner at BroadVail, in a statement.
And for Ferrari, the view from the peak of Mount Everest at 29,032 feet was "remarkable," he said. “You have to pinch yourself when you're sitting there."