Infinity Group

The Urban Century Initiative is aimed at growing our presence in key gateway urban markets, and at focusing our investment dollars on assets designed and built for today’s Urban Lifestyle Generation. This investment program was born out of the formation of Infinity Urban Century, LLC, a partnership entity controlled by Etienne Locoh and the Principals of the Infinity Group, and it has become a central part of IRE’s long range strategic plan.

The Urban Century Initiative is designed to expand IRE’s portfolio and market presence over the coming decade, and to transform the Company’s platform and resources to capitalize on what we believe will be the growing dominance of global urban marketplaces. This investment program was developed as a strategic framework for our growth, and to help guide our tactical choices along the way.

OBJECTIVES
Strategic and Tactical Objective:
  • To establish IRE as a Premier Urban Real Estate Firm renowned for its focus on and innovation in urban property investment and development.
  • Grow our presence in gateway markets featuring a deep, dynamic, and growing employment base, a highly educated workforce, high household income levels, and a growing population driven both by domestic and international in-migration.
  • Invest in the development and ownership of transformative urban assets, located in dense infill areas, enjoying easy access to mass-transit nodes, and a strong visual identity.
  • Focus on the Urban Lifestyle Generation: consumer-related properties where amenities, convenience, service, and experience can be used to create lasting brand value for our assets, whether in urban retail, housing, office, hotel or mixed-use properties.
Investment Objectives:
  • Target value creation opportunities with “staying power”, to achieve pre-tax levered returns of 15.0% over 5 to 10-year hold periods, with 60% to 70% leverage.
  • Acquire under-valued, under-improved, and under-managed real estate assets and property related entities with significant growth and redevelopment potential.
  • Adopt long term stance, reflected in our private ownership culture, combining aggressive asset value creation strategies with conservative financing and risk management strategies.
MISSION & INVESTMENT THESIS
Our Mission Statement:
  • To grow IRE into a recognized innovator and catalyst for vibrant urban growth and renewal in key gateway urban markets.
  • To create an organization that will contribute to the emergence of a new model of vibrant and healthy urban growth, in and around the existing urban cores, to serve the generations of dwellers that are redefining urban culture in old cities and growing new ones.
  • To invest in transformative urban assets that can redefine neighborhoods made for our age’s urban future and lifestyle choices. We dub this age the Urban Century.
Underlying Macro Thesis:
  • Three defining themes underlie our long term vision for the Urban Century Initiative: (i) the Migration towards an Urban Planet, (ii) the necessary Sustainability in Urban Development, and (iii) the emerging Urban Lifestyle Generation.
  • These trends have been gaining in strength and importance, and their impact will continue to grow. They will affect urban living, real estate thinking, and global investment in properties.
  • We believe that our long term vision will position IRE’s Urban Century Ventures at the center of one of the most important macro stories of the next 50 years, and that we have the experience and skills to profit from this macro thesis.
Trend #1: Migration towards an Urban Planet
 
  • More than half of the world’s population now lives in cities, and the increasing density of urban areas is accelerating on every continent and in every country. In 2007, 3.2 billion people were urban dwellers. In 2015, eight years later, that number will reach 3.9 billion people.
  • The ability of urban planners, developers, and real estate investors to organize and sustain the density, growth, and manageability of cities will mark our age.
  • The emerging global gateway cities that will make up this Urban Planet offer unique opportunities for investors, focused on the long-term demographic and lifestyle trends driving this systemic change in the way people live, work, and play.
Trend #2: Sustainability in Urban Density
 
  • Cities as centers of healthy living: Greater density, access to mass transport, and proximity to neighborhood amenities create human settlements with a much lower carbon footprint than their suburban or horizontal sprawl counterparts.
  • Yet, cities’ largest carbon emissions contributors are buildings, mostly from fossil fuels used for heat, air conditioning, lighting, and electrical equipment.
  • Redevelopment of existing urban assets into newer, more sustainable properties will reward long term investors as users start to demand “green buildings”.
Trend #3: The Urban Lifestyle Generation
 
  • Urban lifestyle living is being embraced around the world by young professionals and retired empty nesters alike. In America, baby boomers are redefining housing and lifestyle choices, affecting the type of urban experience that will be delivered in the future.
  • The density of urban development makes possible a level of service and amenity that newer generations will come to see as integral to their lifestyle: health and wellness facilities, fitness centers, daycares, onsite retail and grocery stores, courtyards and play courts, parking, concierge, in short fun, convenience, and peace of mind.
  • These lifestyle changes have also been accompanied by the growth in the number of households outpacing the general population growth. What’s driving this?
  • Seniors are living longer, young people are marrying later, families are smaller, people remarry less after divorce, and young professionals (including women in their 30s) are buying homes, increasing the number of single person households.
  • All of this is increasing the human footprint, and making the shift towards urban dwelling and denser human settlements evermore powerful.