ARC Properties Inc. forges ARCTrust

In accordance with the deceleration of ARC Properties Inc., a Clifton-based commercial real estate developer and investor, it has finally been able to forge new real estate investment trust, ARC Property Trust Inc., or ARCTrust. What will be the central focus of the new outfit? Well, the first and foremost focus, as per the parent company itself, will be on acquiring and developing net leased properties, what is more this does also include buildings leased long-term to creditworthy tenants, especially in New York to Washington, D.C., corridor.

Take the statement of Robert J. Ambrosi, ARC Chairman and Chief Executive into consideration. Robert J. Ambrosi states very categorically, “Everybody’s out looking for distressed property, looking for these huge returns — we don’t see it.” ARCTrust is a conservative investment “for people who don’t want to gamble … because we just don’t feel it’s the right time to gamble. The world is just too uncertain.”

As per the company, ARCTrust happens to be the first in a series of REITs the company plans to create; each trust will seek to purchase about $90 million of assets and will close after 12 months to prevent future shareholders from diluting existing shareholders, Ambrosi said. The investors ARC, on the word of company bigwigs, is in quest of wealthy families who “want to preserve their wealth and have constant, steady income.”

What is the goal then? It seems there is no such for the moment and the company plans to spend between $1 million and $20 million per property by means of ARCTrust, with transactions divided in equal amounts between acquisitions and developments. It must be taken into account that ARC is targeting a 12 percent return over the life of the fund, which will run from five to seven years.

Before I go, let me inform that ARCTrust, by now, has paid money for or developed four properties, including a CVS, in Edgewater; a Wells Fargo, in Washington; a Walgreens, in Manalapan; and a Firestone, in Allentown, Pa.