Opportunities For $100M-Plus Deals Are Forged At Ascent Retreat In Miami

Ascent attendees conversing by the pool at 1 Hotel South Beach in Miami.

Imagine solidifying a partnership that would lead to a multimillion-dollar deal under the palm trees of a South Florida beach. That’s what happened at Bisnow’s yearly Ascent retreat, located at 1 Hotel South Beach, with Nightingale and CrowdStreet meeting in person to discuss a collaboration on raising capital for 200 West Jackson in Chicago. This meeting and the events that followed would eventually result in Nightingale’s $130M acquisition of this property. 

Nightingale Senior Director of Acquisitions Will Hutton had been speaking with CrowdStreet via email and phone prior to the conference, and representatives from the two companies finally got the opportunity to meet in person at Ascent. From their conversation, a partnership bloomed: Nightingale had a deal in mind and was seeking a capital partner that could be a strong fit, and Hutton realized CrowdStreet could be the solution.

CrowdStreet co-founder and Chief BizDev Officer Darren Powderly said that the meeting was “almost like the stars aligned.”

“We discovered that there was a desire to do business together,” Powderly said. “At Ascent, we discussed Nightingale’s pipeline and CrowdStreet’s value proposition, and shortly thereafter they followed through. Because we met at Ascent, we were able to quickly focus on actionable deal flow.”

Powderly said that after a due diligence screening process, CrowdStreet became the capital partner. While the initial goal was to raise around $10M in capital, within approximately 45 days, the companies raised $25M.

“The property was 87% leased long-term, with highly creditworthy tenants including a major anchor tenant, plus strong leasing momentum,” Powderly said. “The property was acquired at an attractive basis with predictable cash-on-cash return, so there was upside potential with downside protection. It was a smashing success and we were delighted that our investor community exceeded expectations.”

Hutton said that the collaboration with CrowdStreet has been “a very natural partnership” and that the CrowdStreet team has helped to make the deal-making process go smoothly. 

Vice President of Escape/Ascent Sean Donahue said that this partnership encapsulates the mission of Ascent, which gathers senior executives for 48 hours of networking and deal-making, leading to hundreds of millions in transactions, all while wearing flip-flops and enjoying the beach.  

“My team spends the months before the retreat curating our attendees to ensure they meet the contacts they need to make deals,” Donahue said. “We only include senior executives from investment and development firms for this reason. It’s imperative for us to understand the investment criteria and goals of each of our attendees to ensure these relationships are impactful.”

He added that Ascent’s agenda is created to be a break from traditional real estate conferences. At the retreat, attendees are grouped together in tribe discussions — or breakout groups with like-minded professionals to share ideas and best practices, enjoy meals with potential partners sharing investment synergies, participate in speed deal-making sessions, and enjoy beach activities with other execs.

While Nightingale and CrowdStreet used the environment to strengthen their connection and lay down the groundwork for a potential partnership, Ackman-Ziff was introduced to some of its future collaborators for the very first time.

Ackman-Ziff attended Ascent with a unique perspective: The company was looking to connect with both owners and developers to advise them on capital needs, said David Borden, managing director at Ackman-Ziff. He said the company had heard of a Texas-based development firm with whom the company eventually partnered, but they had never spoken with members of the company until Ascent, when they were placed in the same tribe.

Borden said the connection with the development firm was so strong that it turned into a true friendship.

“We hit it off initially and continued to keep in touch, and really created a longstanding business relationship and friendship,” Borden said. “At Ascent, you’re not just connecting on a business level, but you’re connecting on a deeper personal level as well.”

Borden said that what differentiates Ascent from other conferences is its “open forum,” which provides the right environment for attendees to get to know one another as people and not simply members of the real estate community. From there, the process of deal-making can become more organic.

Hutton added that the structure of Ascent and the collaboration that transpired afterward was beneficial for Nightingale.

“We saw a direct benefit that resulted in us raising $25M for a single source,” he said. “I thought it was a valuable conference and definitely worth the investment.”

Ascent is designed to do exactly this — directly influence deal generation and connections that lead to more business. The 2022 retreat will be held in November and is more than halfway sold out. The retreat is by invitation only; to apply for consideration, click here.