AMERICAN SOUTH REAL ESTATE FUND
About ASREF
The American South Real Estate Fund (the “Fund” or “ASREF”) provides mezzanine debt, preferred equity, and equity financing for real estate projects located in emerging low- and moderate-income neighborhoods in ten southern states.
ASREF is an impact fund having a Triple Bottom Line (“TBL”) investment strategy:
First Bottom Line:
Second Bottom Line:
Third Bottom Line:
Manager
American South Fund Management, LLC (“ASFM“) is a joint venture between SDS Capital Group (“SDS”) and Vintage Realty Company (“Vintage”). ASREF couples SDS’ impact-fund investment platform with Vintage’s hands-on real estate development expertise, as follows:
SDS Capital Group (SDS)
SDS was founded in 2001 by Deborah La Franchi. SDS specializes in structuring and managing impact funds. These funds seek risk-adjusted market rates of return (the First Bottom Line), while also targeting positive economic and community development impacts (the Second Bottom Line) and environmental sustainability (the Third Bottom Line). SDS has over $1 billion of current and past impact assets under management, which includes its own portfolio of impact investments ($580 million) and those of third-party impact funds ($494 million) using SDS’ investment platform. For the fourth year in a row, SDS was named to Impact Assets 50, a select group of fund managers in the impact investing space.
Vintage Realty Company (Vintage)
Vintage is a 150-person, full-service commercial real estate firm headquartered in Shreveport, Louisiana, with a regional presence in Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas and Mississippi. Vintage’s team manages the Fund’s originations, secures and structures all equity and debt, manages the construction process, and manages the assets. Vintage also has full-scale real estate brokerage and property management divisions. Vintage utilizes a comprehensive, integrated management approach that provides the opportunity to maximize value for its portfolio – as well as for its clients’ properties – throughout the asset lifecycle. Vintage has served as the developer for 3,811 multi-family units, with 2,914 units under its current management, and an additional 760 units currently under construction or in the development phase. Upon delivery of these new units, the Vintage portfolio will represent a market value of approximately $500 million. The integrity and vision of the founders has yielded the loyalty of employees, clients and investors. Vintage has been actively developing, managing and brokering real estate projects throughout the South since its inception in 1988.
Our Team
Deborah La Franchi
Principal - Managing Partner
Ms. La Franchi has 22 years of investment experience and is the founder and CEO of SDS Capital Group — a national leader in impact investing with over $1 billion in assets under management. Each impact fund on SDS’s platform serves a different geography and employs a unique investment strategy, but they all generate positive impacts for low-income communities and people. Each fund either targets a risk-adjusted rate-of-return or provides capital at a below-market cost. Ms. La Franchi leads the structuring of each fund’s investment strategy, spearheads fundraising, oversees the senior managers of each fund and division, and participates on each fund’s investment committee. For four consecutive years, SDS has earned a spot on the ImpactAssets 50 (IA 50) list, which recognizes the leading impact fund managers in the world.
Outside of her work with SDS, Ms. La Franchi is the founder and board chair of Sustainable Communities Fund, which provides capital for small and micro loans to low-income and diverse entrepreneurs. She co-authored the DBL (Double Bottom Line) Handbook sponsored by the Ford Foundation and speaks regularly at investment and impact conferences. Before founding SDS, she served as Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan’s Assistant Deputy Mayor for Economic Development; she then went on to serve as the first CEO of Genesis LA, which launched the Genesis Family of Funds. She is a former director for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Greater L.A. and Secretary and Director of the National New Market Tax Credit Coalition.
Ms. La Franchi earned a BA in Political Science and History from UCLA, an MBA from UCLA, and an MPP from Georgetown University. She also holds a Series 65 license.David Alexander
Principal - Managing Partner
Mr. Alexander oversees operations and provides strategic direction for the Fund, particularly on the investment side. Mr. Alexander sits on the Investment Committee. Mr. Alexander is co-founder/Managing Partner of Vintage Realty Company; he co-founded the firm in 1988. He has nearly 40 years of experience in commercial real estate and has directly structured equity and debt for more than $100M and $400M, respectively, for Vintage’s portfolio that has a current market value of approximately $600M. He has directed the growth of Vintage from a six -person management firm to more than 180 employees today, with expansive property management, investment and development divisions. He has led the development of numerous multifamily projects totaling 3,800 units throughout Louisiana and Arkansas, with another 1,050 units either under construction or in the development phase. Mr. Alexander is also co-developer of Provenance, a 377-acre Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND), as well as an 88-acre infill development with the Northwest Louisiana Community Development Fund I, which is Northwest Louisiana’s only Double Bottom Line Fund (“DBL”). Mr. Alexander is a member of the Shreveport and Bossier Chambers of Commerce, past Director of the Downtown Shreveport Development Corporation, and past Chairman of Shreveport’s Downtown Development Authority. Mr. Alexander graduated from Louisiana State University with a BS in Business Administration.Kip Hamilton
Managing Director
Mr. Hamilton oversees the day-to-day operations of the Fund and leads the investment and asset management teams. Mr. Hamilton sits on the Investment Committee. With over 23 years of experience in commercial real estate investment and development, Mr. Hamilton is responsible for the structuring, launch and management of SDS’ real estate funds. Prior to joining ASREF Mr. Hamilton was an industrial developer with Seventh Street Development, where he was responsible for acquisitions, financing, entitlements, leasing and asset management. Prior to Seventh Street, Mr. Hamilton served as Vice President with Shamrock Capital Advisors, where he helped manage the $85 million Genesis L.A. Real Estate Fund and the $104 million Genesis Real Estate Fund II. The Genesis L.A. Real Estate Fund was one of the first DBL private equity funds in the United States. The Genesis Funds provided equity and mezzanine debt for developers working in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods in Southern California. Mr. Hamilton is a graduate of Columbia University where he majored in Economics and Japanese.Kent Peters
Managing Director
Mr. Peters serves as the day-to-day in-house point person at Vintage for ASREF and is responsible for piloting originations, due diligence, underwriting, structuring, transaction negotiations and closings for Fund investments. Mr. Peters brings over 23 years of real estate investment banking, capital markets, and structured finance experience to the role. Prior to joining ASREF, Mr. Peters was a principal at a boutique real estate firm and a Senior Vice President at CBRE with responsibilities for the evaluation, due diligence, underwriting, structuring, negotiation and closing of debt and equity placements on complex institutional assets across all product types including office, retail, mixed-use, multi-family, hotel, industrial, and corporate sale-leaseback. Mr. Peters has been involved in over $8 Billion in acquisition, disposition, and debt/equity capital market transactions on behalf of real estate investment trusts (“REITs”), institutions, equity funds, private capital, and developers primarily in the Southeast and Southwestern United States. Mr. Peters earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Texas A&M University with a Masters degree in Real Estate Finance with a specialization in Land Economics and Real Estate.Laura Baron
CFO (CPA)
Ms. Baron oversees the Fund’s financial management and sits on the Investment Committee. Ms. Baron is engaged in all aspects of the SDS financial management process, including software applications, project analysis, capital deployment, and ensuring strict guidelines are followed for regulatory alignment and investor transparency. She developed the proprietary operational infrastructure that effectively manages SDS sponsored funds and SDS NMTC Advantage Services, which manages $396M for third-party fund clients. She currently manages assets in excess of $600M across the nation, actively monitoring the construction progress, financial performance and overall business health for each project under management. Prior to joining SDS, Ms. Baron spent 12 years in upper management roles and was involved in several funds with sizeable investment pipelines. As Director of Operations at Wilshire Associates, Ms. Baron built and managed the trading and compliance infrastructure for a $500M leveraged hedge fund. Ms. Baron earned a BA in economics from UCLA in addition to a MBA from the University of Southern California.Tyler Epps
Senior Vice President
Mr. Epps, who works out of the Fund’s Atlanta office, leads ASREF’s originations and also assists in underwriting and asset management. Mr. Epps is responsible for the origination of middle market mezzanine debt and preferred equity investments on commercial real estate across all product types. Prior to joining ASREF, Mr. Epps spent three years at Rialto Capital and two years at Trimont Real Estate Advisors, overseeing more than $1B of commercial real estate across the United States in various investment funds. His responsibilities included the underwriting and asset management of all product types including hotels, retail, multi-family, industrial, and office properties. During his time at Rialto Capital, Mr. Epps also underwrote more than $3.5B of commercial real estate across all product types, from senior loans to direct equity investments. Mr. Epps earned an undergraduate degree from Georgia State University and a Masters of Business Administration from Georgia Tech.Austin Ross
Vice President
Mr. Ross is responsible for underwriting, origination and asset management support on behalf of ASREF.
Prior to joining Vintage Realty Company, Mr. Ross was a Capital Markets analyst at Jones Lang LaSalle (previously Holliday Fenoglio Fowler) in Dallas, TX. While there he was responsible for the underwriting, investment sales pitch/marketing material prep and due diligence/closing process coordination of institutional commercial property transactions throughout the country. Mr. Ross has underwritten over $3.4 billion and assisted in the closing of more than $630 million of commercial real estate assets across multiple property types. Prior to JLL, he played professional baseball for the Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks.
Austin graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering. While there Austin was a member of the 2009 National Champion LSU baseball team.
Kate Querbes
Vice President Asset Management
Kate Querbes is Vice President of Asset Management for the American South Real Estate Fund (“ASREF”); she has been with the firm since 2024. With over 9 years of real estate development and asset management experience, Ms. Querbes is responsible for overseeing and maximizing the value of the fund’s assets through executing asset management strategies encompassing property leasing, capital expenditures, and third-party manager relationships.
Prior to joining ASREF, Kate was Director of Development at Forum Real Estate Group in Denver, Colorado where she oversaw $300 million in multifamily ground-up development projects in the Nevada and Texas markets. Ms. Querbes has been involved in the development, re-development, and asset management of over $2B of multifamily real estate across the country.
Kate holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the University of Mississippi, an MBA, and an MS in Real Estate & Construction Management from the University of Denver – Daniels College of Business.News
- Press
- Investments
Closed $4.23 M Financing For Acquisition And Renovation Of 168-Unit Affordable Housing Complex In Charlotte
American South Capital Partners(“ASCP”), a joint venture of SDS Capital Group and Vintage Realty Company, has provided Infinity Real Estate Advisors with $4.23 million of preferred equity for the acquisition and renovation of Randolph Hills, a 168-unit affordable housing community in Charlotte, NC.
Press ReleaseClosed $4.23 M financing for acquisition and renovation of 168-Unit affordable housing complex in Charlotte
American South Capital Partners(“ASCP”), a joint venture of SDS Capital Group and Vintage Realty Company, has provided Infinity Real Estate Advisors with $4.23 million of preferred equity for the acquisition and renovation of Randolph Hills, a 168-unit affordable housing community in Charlotte, NC.
Urban Land Article Access To Capital: Solutions For Black Developers To Overcome Funding Challenges
January 2024 By Carisa Chappell
View online at Urbanland.uli.org
La Franchi’s firm has money available to smaller developers. For example, SDS Capital provided New Orleans–based developer VPG with $2.7 million of preferred equity for a project whose cost was just under $20 million. “That was [small, even] for us, frankly,” she says. “But it was a really talented team [whose founders] all came out of Tuskegee University with engineering degrees and wanted to have their own company. We hope to keep funding them year after year to help them grow.”
Urban Land Article Access to Capital: Solutions for Black Developers to Overcome Funding Challenges
January 2024 By Carisa Chappell
View online at Urbanland.uli.org
La Franchi’s firm has money available to smaller developers. For example, SDS Capital provided New Orleans–based developer VPG with $2.7 million of preferred equity for a project whose cost was just under $20 million. “That was [small, even] for us, frankly,” she says. “But it was a really talented team [whose founders] all came out of Tuskegee University with engineering degrees and wanted to have their own company. We hope to keep funding them year after year to help them grow.”
Elizabeth Property Group Investment In Six Low Income Texas Housing Properties
Elizabeth Property Group Investment in Six Low Income Texas Housing Properties
Wilmington NC Investment Life At Lakeside Villas
Multifamily Housing News 1.27.2023
ASREF partners with Olive Tree on purchase of 429-unit affordable housing townhome community. Located in Wilmington, North Carolina, “The Life at Lakeside Villas,” is the latest joint venture between ASREF and Olive Tree Holdings. This $29M purchase marks their fifth project partnership of impact investments in affordable housing in the South.
Wilmington NC Investment Life at Lakeside Villas
Multifamily Housing News 1.27.2023
ASREF partners with Olive Tree on purchase of 429-unit affordable housing townhome community. Located in Wilmington, North Carolina, “The Life at Lakeside Villas,” is the latest joint venture between ASREF and Olive Tree Holdings. This $29M purchase marks their fifth project partnership of impact investments in affordable housing in the South.
PRESERVE AT HANOVER – BEAUFORT, SC
PRESERVE AT HANOVER – BEAUFORT, SC
The American South Real Estate Fund (ASREF II) has closed $13.5M in preferred equity funding to finance the construction of a new affordable housing development in South Carolina! The Preserve at Hanover Park project site, located at Beaufort, will soon be transformed into a 280-unit residential apartment building in an opportunity zone area.
SIX-PROPERTY LOW INCOME PORTFOLIO (LIHTC) – TEXAS
SIX-PROPERTY LOW INCOME PORTFOLIO (LIHTC) – TEXAS
Elizabeth Property Group Closes on Investment in Six-Property Portfolio of Texas Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Projects; Financing Provided by Funds Affiliated with American South Fund Management, LLC. Investment finances the acquisition/renovation of 1,444 affordable units throughout Texas.
RANDOLPH HILLS – CHARLOTTE, NC
RANDOLPH HILLS – CHARLOTTE, NC
AMERICAN SOUTH CAPITAL PARTNERS INVESTS $4.2M IN NORTH CAROLINA AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMPLEX
$174M ASREF II closed financing for acquisition and renovation of 168-Unit affordable housing complex in Charlotte; Third Project in NC
PRESERVE AT FLAGLER BEACH – FLORIDA
PRESERVE AT FLAGLER BEACH – FLORIDA
With total development costs projected at $57 million, The Preserve at Flagler Beach is the first investment in Florida for ASFM impact funds. All 240 one, two and three-bedroom apartment units will be rented at rates affordable at 115% Area Median Income (AMI) or less, bringing critically-needed workforce housing to this community.