Bain Capital Real Estate and 11North Partners Form Joint Venture to Invest in Open-Air Retail Centers

BOSTON & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Bain Capital Real Estate (“Bain Capital”) and 11North Partners (“11North”), a retail focused investment platform, today announced the formation of a strategic partnership to acquire and operate open-air retail centers throughout the U.S. and Canada. The platform will employ a broad investment mandate, targeting retail opportunities across the risk-return spectrum, and will predominantly focus on open-air retail assets with a high concentration of necessity-based tenants.

11North was founded by CEO Brian Harper, a 25-year real estate industry veteran with significant retail experience. Most recently, Mr. Harper served as President and CEO of RPT Realty (NYSE: RPT), where he successfully led a strategic transformation of the company and oversaw its merger with Kimco Realty (NYSE: KIM) in January 2024. At 11North, Mr. Harper is joined by several senior executives from RPT Realty, who have a long track record of working as a team to create value.

“Today, open-air retail centers benefit from a confluence of tailwinds and strong real estate fundamentals that create an attractive risk-return opportunity,” said Mr. Harper. “We believe historically low supply growth and increased demand for open-air shopping centers, driven by strong retail sales, persistent work-from-home trends, and the increased prevalence for omnichannel shopping, provide a favorable backdrop for the sector. Throughout my career, I have admired Bain Capital for their deep knowledge across multiple sectors throughout the world and their strong investment track record. We share a strong conviction in the open-air retail space, and we are excited to leverage their deep retail connectivity and differentiated consumer insights. With a demonstrated history of generating strong returns and a lack of challenged legacy assets, our focus will remain on offense in what we believe will be a compelling investment environment.”

“Through Bain Capital’s 40 years of investing in the consumer and retail sector, in partnership with such brands as Staples, Domino’s Pizza, Burger King, Dunkin’ Donuts, Canada Goose, and Fogo de Chão, our platform has a unique perspective on the changing retail landscape,” said Ryan Cotton, Head of Bain Capital Real Estate. “Through significant transformation over the last 15 years, including the Great Financial Crisis, an ongoing ecommerce transition, the D2C insurgence, and a global pandemic, the way we shop continues to evolve. We believe there are clear, emerging thematics that support the winning brands, retailers, and commercial real estate of tomorrow. In convenience-oriented, necessity-based retail, we see a format that is well aligned with these themes, will continue to enjoy strong operating performance, and delivers strong results to tenants. But, the market has yet to fully appreciate the bifurcation of the retail sector, which we believe leads to the opportunity for highly attractive risk-adjusted buying. There are few proven private platforms to capitalize on this opportunity set, and we feel fortunate to partner with Brian and his team as we build a high-quality portfolio of scale.”

About Bain Capital Real Estate 
Bain Capital Real Estate was formed in 2018 and pursues investments in often hard-to-access sectors underpinned by enduring secular trends that drive long-term demand growth for real estate assets and services. The Bain Capital Real Estate team has been executing its strategy since 2010 (formerly as a part of Harvard Management Company), having invested and committed over $7.7 billion of equity across multiple sectors. Bain Capital Real Estate focuses on assets where the team applies its deep industry expertise to accelerate impact and drive operational improvements. Bain Capital Real Estate’s strategy aligns with the value-added investment approach that Bain Capital pioneered and leverage’s the firm’s global platform and significant experience across asset classes to further bolster its insights and sourcing capabilities. Bain Capital is one of the world’s leading private investment firms with approximately $180 billion of assets under management. For more information, visit https://www.baincapitalrealestate.com/.

About 11North Partners 
11North Partners is a real estate investment firm focused on curating a portfolio of retail investments diversified across markets and product types. With a focus on the intersection of superior performance and bold vision, the 11North team is dedicated to redefining the traditional approach to retail real estate.

The team’s combination of deep industry expertise, retailer and owner relationships, and blue-chip institutional partners provides unique insight into the ever-evolving retail landscape and unparalleled access to deal flow. 11North seeks to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns through unlocking value across retail verticals including real estate ownership, debt and operating company investment. For more information, visit https://www.11northpartners.com.

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Scott Lessne

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Source: Bain Capital Real Estate