Embarcadero Capital Partners LLC
Embarcadero Capital Partners is a real estate investment and management firm based on the San Francisco peninsula. We invest in dynamic, development-constrained U.S. markets that are known for intellectual capital and a creative business culture. ECP targets assets with strong leasing appeal due to location, quality, design, and other factors. The Funds seek transactions that can be secured either directly on a negotiated basis, or by competing with a limited number of bidders. Sellers value our discretionary capital, rapid decision-making and due diligence capabilities, and reputation as a "closer." ECP adds value to assets by proactive management and leasing, and by selective capital improvement and redevelopment. Founded by longtime industry professionals Eric Yopes and John Hamilton, ECP has raised over $600 million of equity capital in three closed-end funds. Investors include leading endowments, foundations, fund-of-fund investors, and family offices.
Real Estate Specialization
| Multifamily |
| Office |
| Mixed-use |
Investment Type
| JV partnership |
| Acquisition/Fee Simple |
Investment Style
| Core |
| Value-add |
| Opportunistic |
Typical Deal Size
| > $50,000,000 |
John Hamilton
In 2002, John Hamilton co-founded Embarcadero Capital Partners LLC ("ECP"), a property investment and management firm based on the San Francisco Peninsula. Since its inception, ECP has sponsored four comingled, closed-end investment funds with over $800 million of equity capital. Investment of this capital is focused on U.S. West Coast office and R&D properties. Beginning in 2005, Mr. Hamilton was the development manager for VMware’s Corporate Headquarters, consisting of five, two-story office buildings, one "commons" building (totaling 580,200 s.f.) and one garage in Stanford Research Park. Previously, Mr. Hamilton served as Chief Development Officer of Cornerstone Properties, Inc., one of the largest office REITs in the U.S. prior to its mid-2000 sale to Equity Office Properties Trust. He has managed high-end office developments with Blackstone Real Estate Advisors, Equity Office Properties, Oracle Corporation and others. At Cornerstone, and for 15 years as a partner with William Wilson & Associates (WW&A), Mr. Hamilton exercised broad executive authority over core activities in acquisitions, development, leasing and property operations. He was directly responsible for the development and leasing of over 4 million square feet of Class A office space, including the 2 million square foot world headquarters of Oracle Corporation in Redwood City, California. He also served on the firm's investment committee and was instrumental in managing the company's integration with Cornerstone upon the REIT's acquisition of WW&A. Prior to joining WW&A, Mr. Hamilton worked with Hines Industrial in Houston and as an auditor with Ernst & Ernst. He is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Business School, and currently serves on the boards of Cypress Funeral Services, Inc., the San Mateo County Community Colleges Foundation and the San Mateo Economic Development Association.
Eric Yopes
For sixteen years until late 2001 Eric Yopes carried out a wide range of executive responsibilities at Shorenstein Company in San Francisco, one of the premier office owners in the country with integrated investment and operating capabilities. As Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Investments, Mr. Yopes played a lead role in the company's acquisitions program while directing the firm's investment management activities. His responsibilities included acquisitions, dispositions, asset management, leasing, development, finance, technology, and partner relations. He served on the firm's executive committee, investment committee, advisory board, and also as chief financial officer and chief operating officer during the company's rapid expansion in the 1990's. Mr. Yopes was instrumental in the firm's transition from a regional development company to a national office investment manager, supervising five private equity funds that invested in over $4 billion of property assets. Mr. Yopes is currently a board member of the San Francisco Bay Area YMCA and served for several years as a trustee of Marin Country Day School, The Urban School, and board member of Episcopal Community Services. Prior to joining Shorenstein Company, Mr. Yopes spent three years at the law firm of Shearman & Sterling in New York. He is a graduate of Yale University and the University of Chicago Law School.
Sam Hooker
Sam Hooker has over 25 years of equity investment, loan origination and portfolio management experience in commercial real estate. During this time he sourced and closed over 250 transactions totaling over $3.5 billion of property acquisitions and structured debt. Prior to joining Embarcadero Capital Partners, Mr. Hooker was Director of Acquisitions for ATC Partners, a San Francisco based commercial real estate investor. From 1999 to 2001, Mr. Hooker was Vice President of FINOVA Realty Mezzanine, Inc. and Regional Director for the Northwest Region of FINOVA Realty Capital, providing term, bridge and mezzanine financing to the commercial real estate market. His primary responsibilities encompassed nationwide origination and underwriting. Prior to joining FINOVA, Mr. Hooker was Senior Vice President and Western Regional Manager for Prime Capital Funding, a private mortgage REIT. During his two years at Prime, Mr. Hooker sourced and closed over $300 million of preferred equity and structured finance transactions while managing a six-person origination and underwriting staff. From 1985 through 1994, Mr. Hooker was with Norris, Beggs & Simpson, a San Francisco based brokerage, leasing and mortgage-banking company, where he was responsible for equity investments and mortgage origination on behalf of several institutional investors, including AEW Capital Management, John Hancock Real Estate and New England Mutual Life. His duties included sourcing and executing acquisitions, and ongoing portfolio management for a $1 billion real estate portfolio in northern California. Mr. Hooker is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley.