Oak Hill Advisors Leads $326.5m Investment in Workspace Property Trust, Leading Suburban Office Company

Workspace Property Trust, one of the largest privately-held suburban office and industrial companies founded by Thomas A. Rizk and Roger W. Thomas announced that Oak Hill Advisors, a leading alternative investment firm with more than $50bn in assets, has led a $326.5m investment in the company.

Founded in 2015, Workspace owns and operates 10m square feet of suburban office and light industrial properties in markets across the country including South Florida, Tampa, Phoenix, Minneapolis and two suburban Philadelphia markets.

“We believe Workspace is in a terrific position to expand geographically and satisfy the demand for affordable, accessible suburban office space,” said Glenn August, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of OHA. “Tom and Roger have built an impressive company and we are excited to play a meaningful role in their growth going forward.

“We are thrilled to partner with Glenn, Matt Borstein (OHA partner and head of its real estate investment platform) and the entire team at OHA as we accelerate our plans to expand our footprint and portfolio in key suburban markets across the country,” said Mr. Rizk, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of Workspace. “OHA recognizes the unique and compelling opportunity facing Workspace today and we are poised to take advantage of the market dynamics to deliver value to our tenants at scale.”

During the pandemic, suburban office was one of the best performing property sectors in the U.S., measured by its durable income. The U.S. suburban office market is extremely large with approximately 2.7bn square feet, offering opportunities for consolidation. Under the terms of this agreement, OHA is looking forward to being a capital partner to Workspace as it considers acquisitions and additional investments.

Matt Borstein, said, “This investment in Workspace is exactly the type of opportunity OHA is focused on: partnering with a great management team with an excellent operating history and strong performance in a sector with strong secular tailwinds. We are looking forward to exploring additional investments together.”

“This investment comes at a critical inflection point for the business,” said Roger Thomas, co-founder, President and COO of Workspace. “Since inception, we have delivered extraordinary value for our tenants and the communities we serve, and we’ve solidified our leadership position in suburban office space during the pandemic. Tom and I have assembled an extraordinary team of professionals who are committed to excellence and our success is a direct result of their performance. As we look ahead into a recovering economy, we see tremendous runway for the business and OHA is the perfect partner for us.”

Workspace Property Trust has been sponsored, in part, by Rizk Ventures. Rizk Ventures is a special situations operating firm, and the majority of its investments are in real estate including suburban office, light industrial, healthcare and self-storage sectors. As part of this agreement, Rizk Ventures and OHA will consider additional investments in Rizk Ventures-sponsored platforms.

The founding partners of Workspace include Safanad, Forum Partners, JMP Group, and Everwatch Capital. Oak Hill Advisors will now join this investment group, alongside Mason Capital and funds managed by Rialto Capital Management, LLC.

Oak Hill Advisors was advised by Eastdil Secured and represented by the law firm of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. Workspace was advised by Moelis & Company LLC and Rockefeller Capital Management, who also acted as Joint Placement Agents on the transaction, and represented by the law firm of Seyfarth Shaw LLP.

Source: Business Wire 

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