Key Takeaways
- • Mark Burkhart, former CEO of Cassidy Turley (now Cushman & Wakefield), has launched Burkhill Real Estate Fund I with $30 million in committed capital from unnamed investors and real estate professionals accumulated during his 40-year career.
- • The fund structure targets up to $70 million in total real estate purchasing power, positioning Burkhart for selective acquisitions across multiple asset classes and geographies without a defined deployment timeline.
- • Burkhart led Cassidy Turley as CEO for 25 years (1987–2012) before the firm was eventually acquired by a private equity consortium backed by TPG Capital, PAG Asia Capital, and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.
- • Private real estate fundraising through Q3 2017 totaled $77 billion, down 22 percent year-over-year from $99 billion in the same period of 2016, signaling a contracting institutional appetite for real estate vehicles.
- • Burkhart's strategy emphasizes patience and selective deal sourcing rather than rapid capital deployment, reflecting a measured approach to market timing amid broader fundraising headwinds.
Summary
Mark Burkhart, the veteran real estate executive who spent 25 years as CEO of Cassidy Turley between 1987 and 2012, has established Burkhill Real Estate and closed its inaugural fund at $30 million. The firm began capital formation in 2016, drawing commitments from a network of institutional investors and real estate professionals built across Burkhart's four-decade career. The fund structure provides sufficient dry powder to execute acquisitions across a $70 million deployment envelope, granting the manager meaningful flexibility across real estate asset types and U.S. markets.
Burkhart has deliberately eschewed aggressive deployment timelines, signaling instead that capital will remain patient and selective. "If we could find something today, we'd buy it," Burkhart stated, "but we're going to be selective and our investors understand that patience is a virtue. We're not going to be pushed up where we have to get money out. We'll be patient for the right opportunity." This stance reflects both disciplined underwriting discipline and acknowledgment of the broader fundraising environment facing alternative real estate managers.
The fundraising backdrop underscores the timing challenge facing new entrants. According to Preqin, private real estate fundraising through the first nine months of 2017 reached $77 billion, representing a 22 percent decline from the $99 billion raised during the comparable 2016 period. This contraction suggests institutional capital is becoming more selective and risk-averse in real estate allocations, placing additional pressure on emerging managers to differentiate through track record, sourcing edge, and disciplined capital allocation—strengths Burkhart's tenure at Cassidy Turley arguably provided.
Burkhart's departure from Cassidy Turley preceded significant corporate evolution. The firm he led was eventually acquired by a private equity consortium backed by TPG Capital, PAG Asia Capital, and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, and subsequently rebranded as Cushman & Wakefield, signaling the consolidation pressures reshaping the commercial real estate services industry. Burkhart's pivot to direct real estate investment positions him to capitalize on his professional relationships and market expertise independent of the platform dynamics that ultimately transformed his former employer.
Burkhart has deliberately eschewed aggressive deployment timelines, signaling instead that capital will remain patient and selective. "If we could find something today, we'd buy it," Burkhart stated, "but we're going to be selective and our investors understand that patience is a virtue. We're not going to be pushed up where we have to get money out. We'll be patient for the right opportunity." This stance reflects both disciplined underwriting discipline and acknowledgment of the broader fundraising environment facing alternative real estate managers.
The fundraising backdrop underscores the timing challenge facing new entrants. According to Preqin, private real estate fundraising through the first nine months of 2017 reached $77 billion, representing a 22 percent decline from the $99 billion raised during the comparable 2016 period. This contraction suggests institutional capital is becoming more selective and risk-averse in real estate allocations, placing additional pressure on emerging managers to differentiate through track record, sourcing edge, and disciplined capital allocation—strengths Burkhart's tenure at Cassidy Turley arguably provided.
Burkhart's departure from Cassidy Turley preceded significant corporate evolution. The firm he led was eventually acquired by a private equity consortium backed by TPG Capital, PAG Asia Capital, and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, and subsequently rebranded as Cushman & Wakefield, signaling the consolidation pressures reshaping the commercial real estate services industry. Burkhart's pivot to direct real estate investment positions him to capitalize on his professional relationships and market expertise independent of the platform dynamics that ultimately transformed his former employer.
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