Owning a high-rise: What does it take to be in a syndication to own a commercial high-rise?
I live in the Dallas-Ft. Worth (DFW) metro area.  In the last 5 years Dallas has been exploding skyward, older high-rises in the CBD are seeing higher occupancy rates, and Fort Worth opened a 20+ story high rise in the last 3 years with another one about to start construction.  Seeing this has made me set a goal for myself: To be a part-owner of a commercial high-rise of 25+ stories. It's a lofty goal and a bucket list item, but the best goals are big ones. So....

Is anyone on here invested in high-rise real estate? If so, how did you get into it?   
What experience do fellow Redditors on here have with large-scale commercial real estate? 

Looking forward to hearing what you have to say.
[{"id": "hd9x09d", "text": "I\u2019m sure someone out there syndicates for cbd office, but it\u2019s going to be way less common than apartment deals unless you\u2019re writing pretty large check sizes. If you can write checks of $5M+, there are definitely private equity shops that could likely get you into a fund. Maybe there are shops out there that are doing $1M+? Unlikely these shops are buying cbd office though. \n\nOffice is just so much more complicated than your average apartment deal that they tend to be owned exclusively by very institutional groups. Since you\u2019re talking high rise exclusively 25+ stories, you\u2019re going to have a hard time finding any that trade for less than $100M. When you get into deal sizes at that level, syndication is just much less common.", "replies": [{"id": "hdcq5a2", "text": "Can confirm. I syndicate office and do institutional-sized deals as well. At about $15-20mm in equity (deal size) passing the hat around family offices becomes a lot of work for us and we look to institutional relationships. There are some groups who focus specifically on equity checks specifically from about $15-25mm specifically because that delta is a tough one, given the larger institutions often have a $20-25mm minimum check size.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hda8kiw", "text": "Maybe consider investing via Crowdstreet, Equitymultiple, or RealtyMogul?\n\nOther than that, you might consider reaching out to local developers/GPs directly and, if you have the means, directly asking to be an LP on their next big project or asking for referrals to any syndicates they work with to see if you can join them as an LP.\n\nAre you an accredited investor? Qualified purchaser?", "replies": [{"id": "hdcgjey", "text": "Not accredited yet. That's in my strategy though.", "replies": [{"id": "hddrr9f", "text": "Well, I think it's going to rather difficult (impossible?) to get in on a high rise deal without being an accredited investor. The only real option I'm aware of to do so without being accredited is through public or privately traded REITs (e.g. Fundrise). I could be wrong, though.\n\nIn any case, do what you can to earn accredited investor status.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hdadyjq", "text": "I syndicate office deals in major metro markets. We have a syndicate of investors \u2014 UHNW individuals, many of which know each other socially. Every group has different requirements, but we let our friends and family invest with us. Early on I\u2019d have them invest with me and have a side agreement with them. We started with one UHNW individual and built the company and investor pool over time and now we do deals with institutions too. I started doing land use political consulting and eventually worked to find someone who had investors that trusted them and we worked to build the company from the ground up. Learning it was a baptism by fire.\n\nIf you met with some commercial brokers in Dallas who do capital markets and had some money to invest they may connect you with developers. It\u2019s largely networking.\n\nHappy to answer questions.", "replies": [{"id": "hdclxhm", "text": "It's good to hear from someone who has been there. Thank you for responding.   \n\n\nBased on what I've read elsewhere, and found on here, getting to the point of accreditation is a primary checkpoint. Then continue working on my network.", "replies": [{"id": "hdcpoyz", "text": "The accreditation isn\u2019t always necessary. It depends on who is taking your investment. Do you golf? I know this sounds silly, but a country club is a great investment for meeting people. Many of the ones I play at are majority real estate folks. LPs, GPs, brokers \u2014 you meet all sorts of folks. The deals we\u2019ve made as a result of those relationships make the mover ship cost pale in comparison.", "replies": [{"id": "hddjhob", "text": "No I don't. One reason is because of the expense. Plus, I just don't enjoy it.", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hdc2suh", "text": "You would need to be an acreddited investor and be able to write atleast a $50,000 check and maybe more because the GPs often prefer a couple larger investors. They will bring in their own equity and have a couple dozen side car investors buy into an entity they control which then invests in the property.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hddk612", "text": "Value-add, development, or new/updated stabilized deal? I know for MF CBD the purchasers of cash-flowing up to date assets are big institutional buyers looking for consistent returns, think CALPERS or some sovereign wealth group, these groups usually win because they want core, safe assets, and will pay-up to make those purchases at a 3.5% cap reality. A lot of these groups actually are build to core, they come in during development with rights to buy out the GP post stabilization. Good assets are hard to come by these days and there is a lot of money searching for those deals. \n\nIn non-disclosure markets such as Texas there is always a chance you find a hidden gems in the CBD from land owners who don\u2019t fully understand the value of the dirt, think old restaurant that is zoned CBD but obviously not effectively utilizing the site. You can tie it up, and then bring in a co-GP like a CIM or something and there\u2019s your tower ownership. I know more than a few locals have pulled this off, a lot of out of state groups do this in markets that are non-disclosure where the person with contract has all the power.\n\n Otherwise you\u2019re gonna need a big purse or be one of many on the purchase (crowd funding, LP investor in some fund), but again, the issue is a lot of groups want those core assets as it\u2019s the perceived less risky real estate.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "hdkagzo", "text": "Look at major owners of high rises in your market, call them up and say you\u2019re interested in investing with them. I\u2019m sure they\u2019ll be happy to connect you with their IR Dept. \n\nA lot of those deals are done with institutional capital partners but a decent amount have a slice of the capital stack syndicated out through a broker dealer network and this is probably the shortest way to find out who to deal with.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]