Bluerock Real Estate LLC
Bluerock is a national real estate investment firm headquartered in Manhattan with regional offices in Southfield, Michigan, Boise, Idaho and Newport Beach, California. Bluerock is a leading private equity real estate asset manager with a focus on Core-Plus, Value-Add, Opportunistic and Development investment strategies, and has transacted over 9 million square feet of residential and commercial real estate acquisitions since its inception in 2002. Bluerock’s key principals have an average of 25 years investing experience, have been involved with acquiring over 30 million square feet of real estate with approximately $10 billion in value, and have helped launch leading real estate private and public company platforms.
Real Estate Specialization
| Multifamily |
| Office |
| Land/Development |
| Real Estate Fund |
Investment Type
| Equity syndication/Club Deal |
| JV partnership |
| Acquisition/Fee Simple |
| Securities |
Investment Style
| Core+ |
| Value-add |
| Opportunistic |
Typical Deal Size
| $10,000,000 - $50,000,000 |
Ramin Kamfar
Mr. Kamfar is the founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Bluerock Real Estate. Mr. Kamfar also serves as the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Bluerock Residential Growth REIT (NYSE MKT: BRG), and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Total Income (plus) Real Estate Fund (TIPRX), a closed-end interval fund organized by Bluerock. Mr. Kamfar has over 20 years of experience in various aspects of real estate, mergers and acquisitions, private equity investing, and investment banking. Mr. Kamfar started his career as an investment banker at Lehman Brothers Inc., where he specialized in mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Kamfar left Lehman to focus on private equity investing, and over a decade executed a growth/consolidation strategy to build a startup into a leading public company in the ‘fast casual’ market now known as Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: BAGL) with approximately 800 locations and $400 million in gross revenues. Mr. Kamfar also previously served as an active investor, advisor and member of the Board of Directors of Vsource, Inc., a technology company subsequently sold to Symphony House (KL: SYMPHNY), a leading business process outsourcing company focused on the Fortune 500 and Global 500. Mr. Kamfar received an M.B.A. degree with distinction in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.S. degree with distinction in Finance from the University of Maryland.
James Babb III
Mr. Babb serves as Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of Bluerock Real Estate, which he joined in July 2007. He oversees all real estate sourcing, diligence, structuring and acquisitions for Bluerock. He has been involved exclusively in real estate acquisition, management, financing and disposition for more than 20 years, primarily on behalf of investment funds since 1992. From 1992 to August 2003, Mr. Babb helped lead the residential and office acquisitions initiatives for Starwood Capital Group, most recently as a Senior Vice President. Starwood Capital was formed in 1992 and during his tenure raised and invested funds on behalf of institutional investors through seven private real estate funds which in the aggregate ultimately invested approximately $8 billion in approximately 250 separate transactions. During such period, Mr. Babb led or shared investment responsibility for over 75 investment transactions totaling approximately $2.5 billion of asset value in more than 20 million square feet of residential, office and industrial properties located in 25 states and seven foreign countries, including a significant number of transactions that were contributed to the initial public offering of Equity Residential Properties Trust (NYSE: EQR), and to create iStar Financial Inc. (NYSE: SFI). Mr. Babb was also active in Starwood Capital’s efforts to expand its platform to invest in Europe. From August 2003 to July 2007, Mr. Babb founded his own principal investment company, Bluepoint Capital, LLC. Bluepoint was a private real estate investment company focused on the acquisition, development and/or redevelopment of residential and commercial properties in the Northeast United States and Western Europe. Mr. Babb received a B.A. degree in Economics in 1987 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Sori Farsheed
Ms. Farsheed serves as Senior Vice President of Business Development for Bluerock Real Estate. Ms. Farsheed joined Bluerock after four years at ICON Investments, an Alternative Investments firm where she built and managed a very client-centric relationship management department. Prior to ICON, Ms. Farsheed spent 4 years at Legg Mason Global Asset Management, a premier Asset Management as a Director, focusing on building the intermediary retail distribution utilizing a broad menu of investment products. Mrs. Farsheed spent 14 years at Alliance Bernstein as Vice President of Relationship Management and started her career in the financial services industry as a stockbroker at Prudential-Bache in San Francisco where she attended college and now resides in suburb of Washington DC.
Jordan B. Ruddy
- +1 646 278 4223
- jruddy@bluerockre.com
Mr. Ruddy serves as Chief Operating Officer for Bluerock Real Estate, which he joined in 2002. Mr. Ruddy has 20 years of experience in real estate acquisitions, financings, management and dispositions. From 2000 to 2001, Mr. Ruddy served as an investment banker at Banc of America Securities LLC, where he was responsible for various types of real estate investment banking transactions including equity offerings, debt placements and asset sales. From 1997 to 2000, Mr. Ruddy served as Vice President of Amerimar Enterprises, a real estate company specializing in value-added investments nationwide, where he managed acquisitions, financings, leasing, asset management and dispositions of both commercial and multifamily real estate. From 1995 to 1997, Mr. Ruddy served as an investment banker at Smith Barney Inc., where he was responsible for various types of real estate investment banking transactions including equity offerings, debt placements and asset sales. From 1988 to 1993, Mr. Ruddy served in the real estate department of The Chase Manhattan Bank. Mr. Ruddy received an M.B.A. degree in Finance and Real Estate in 1995 from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a B.S. degree with high honors in Economics in 1986 from the London School of Economics, located in London, England.
Jerold E. Novack
Mr. Novack serves as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Bluerock Real Estate, which he joined in 2004. Mr. Novack has over 25 years of experience in public and private financings, operations and management. From June 1994 to April 2002, Mr. Novack served in senior financial positions of New World Restaurant Group, Inc. (now known as Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: BAGL)), including as its Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. From 1982 to 1993, Mr. Novack held various senior financial positions at several specialty retail chains, including Mercantile Department Stores and Brooks Fashion Stores. Mr. Novack received a B.S. degree in Accounting in 1976 from Brooklyn College, City University of New York.
Josh Hoffman
- +1 208 475 2380
- jhoffman@bluerockre.com
Ryan Macdonald
- +1 646 649 9150
- rmacdonald@bluerockre.com