S2 Capital is expanding its newly formed U.S. industrial team with a vice president of acquisitions in Atlanta who is expected to help lead the charge as the investment firm builds its Sun Belt industrial portfolio.
The Dallas-based real estate investment firm with a long history of investing in apartments turned to the strength and demand for industrial properties last year. Now, S2 Capital has named Danny Bernstein as its vice president of acquisitions, the firm told CoStar News. In hiring Bernstein, S2 Capital brings in a seasoned executive who most recently worked at Blackstone's Link Logistics, marking a significant milestone in the firm's industrial growth strategy in a key U.S. submarket.
"Atlanta is a market we have had high interest in for some time, and Danny is exactly the kind of local expert with institutional experience that positions us to move quickly and at scale," said Chris Roach, president of S2 Capital's industrial division, in a statement.
The addition of Bernstein comes months after S2 Capital formed a joint venture partnership with Washington, D.C.-based real estate private equity firm Iron Point Partners to beef up its value-add, infill shallow bay industrial investments in high-growth U.S. markets, the firm said in December. This strategy builds on S2 Capital's industrial portfolio totaling about 11 million square feet in Texas and Florida as it seeks to scale throughout the Sun Belt.
The joint venture planned to enter Atlanta and other southeastern markets as part of its growth initiatives this year. The addition of Bernstein marks a major step forward in the joint venture's strategic plan.
Prior to serving as a vice president at Link Logistics, Bernstein was an adviser on industrial services in Cresa's Atlanta office, according to his LinkedIn profile. In this new role, he will lead acquisition strategy for S2 Capital in Atlanta and help shape the regional investment strategy across the broader southeast region.
For Bernstein, he said, Atlanta is the "most compelling opportunity in the Southeast right now, with S2 Capital having the platform, capital and the conviction to move decisively in this market. The timing couldn't be better."
The decision falls in line with what CoStar's market analytics team noted in its latest Atlanta market report, with investment activity in this area being "selective and thesis-driven," with limited new development of shallow-bay and infill segments providing a backdrop to relative stability and deal volume being up for the past 12 months.