The Boyer Co. Sees A Bright Future In Online Syndication, Salt Lake City Industrial Market

The Boyer Co. is no stranger to Intermountain West industrial real estate, having delivered more than 14M SF of new warehouse, logistics, food processing and manufacturing space there.

But that doesn’t mean that the 50-year-old company isn’t open to trying something new. 

The Salt Lake City-based developer has historically self-funded all of its projects — totaling more than 43M SF across all commercial real estate sectors since it was founded. But Boyer recently elected to try third-party funding for the first time when it worked with online syndication platform CrowdStreet.  

“We see a long-term future with the CrowdStreet platform,” CEO Jake Boyer said. “They are in alignment with our business plan and the type of capital that we are looking for.”

Boyer is the deal sponsor for a 550K-plus SF industrial distribution building being developed in Grantsville, Utah, a suburb in the hot Salt Lake City market. With 36-foot clear height ceilings on a 31.4-acre parcel, this will be the first building of what is being called the Lakeview Commerce Center and it is expected to be ready for occupancy by as many as six tenants by Q4 2023. 

CrowdStreet Managing Director David Govshtein said Boyer liked that CrowdStreet could provide access to passive investors for the Lakeview Commerce Center deal, but without Boyer having to cede any control. This is an appealing business model as many institutional investors have taken a wait-and-see approach to the economy while interest rates rise and capital becomes more scarce.

“Boyer has traditionally structured their offerings with their own capital but they see our platform as a new opportunity in capital raising,” Govshtein said. “The firm saw that we bring passive, limited partners to the deal that won't ask for control rights or voting rights that Boyer would have to give up.”

Boyer President Nate Boyer praised the entire process of working with CrowdStreet on the deal.

“We had a very smooth onboarding process despite the fact that online syndication was completely new to us,” he said. “The actual fundraising component, which is really where the rubber meets the road, was successful. Not only did we meet our target equity raise, but we exceeded it.”

Working with CrowdStreet, Boyer raised more than $20M in offers in less than one day. 

“The fact that we were able to quickly raise this much capital for such a high-quality group in this economic environment is a testament to the resilience of our platform, even in these challenging times,” Govshtein said. “It’s not easy for sponsors to raise capital today because there's a lot of money sitting on the sidelines, but we were able to do it.”

The fundraiser included more than 350 participating investors, many of whom were likely eager to get in on a deal sponsored by one of the largest CRE companies in the western United States. The fact that Lakeview Commerce Center is in one of the nation’s strongest industrial markets certainly did not hurt, either.

Salt Lake City ranked 10th in CrowdStreet’s “Best Places to Invest in 2022.” A fast-growing state population and an industrial vacancy rate in Utah’s population hub of Salt Lake City of only 3% are driving demand for more logistics space in the area, CrowdStreet noted.

While the demand for new distribution facilities has cooled somewhat since the worst of the pandemic, CrowdStreet remains bullish on the industrial market in general.

“Although relative demand for industrial space is tapering from its peak, the outlook for the sector remains relatively unchanged and will remain elevated, especially in low-vacancy and high-barrier markets,” CrowdStreet said in a recent report.

Govshtein noted that industrial properties continue to be sought after by CrowdStreet's investor base, who see distribution centers and similar facilities as potential good investments, particularly in booming regional markets.

“There is a significant lack of industrial product and a lot of room for growth in markets like Salt Lake City,” Govshtein said. “That's causing upward pressure on rents and forcing tenants to move quickly to get leases done, which makes the new Lakeview Commerce Center even more important to the market.”

Boyer partner Nicholai Lazarev said the developer foresees continued growth in the area — and expects to continue to work with CrowdStreet on future projects.

“A lot of growth is happening west of Salt Lake City in a really tight industrial market, and the Grantsville market is poised for success,” he said. “We are already discussing other opportunities with CrowdStreet and we are looking at them as a source of capital for many future projects.” 

This article was produced in collaboration between CrowdStreet and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com. 

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