January 3, 2024 – Louisville, Kentucky. Ridley Capital Group announced that it has formed a real estate affiliate, OAI Capital, to focus on distressed commercial real estate assets across the U.S. through its sponsored private investment fund OAI Capital Real Estate Partnership.
OAI Capital is a majority owned entity of Ridley Capital Group, a full-service investment services company offering private investment funds, investment banking services, and specialty finance solutions for commercial real estate opportunities.
OAI Capital and its affiliates are focused on allocating capital in distressed commercial real estate assets, including office, multi-family, hospitality, and mixed-use properties experiencing financial stress.
“We saw commercial properties sell at valuations we thought were compelling and believe this is the beginning of another deep decline in certain segments of the commercial real estate market,” said Shawn J. Ridley, Managing Partner of OAI Capital.
The swift rise in interest rates, maturing loans, and work migration away from traditional office environments are reasons for declining valuations. Banks have been quite flexible the last 18 months working with property owners suffering financial stress, but that has changed in 2024 given the volume of troubled loans and regulators stepping up its oversight. “We really don’t know how deep this commercial real estate will be, but we expect it to be deeper and wider than most currently believe it will be,” said Ridley.
OAI is a majority owned affiliate of Ridley Capital Group and will operate and manage all real estate acquisitions through its OAI Capital Real Estate Partnership. Ridley Capital Group is a diversified investment firm with a focus on the management of proprietary and third-party private investment funds and providing corporations and commercial real estate companies capital consultation through its specialty finance group.