Monday, January 11, 2010, 4:10pm MST

Pittman, Pathfinder team up on fund to buy distressed Colorado real estate

Denver Business Journal

Pittman Development Group Inc. of Denver has teamed with California’s Pathfinder Partners LLC to launch a new private equity fund for buying distressed real estate in Colorado.

The new fund, called Pittman Pathfinder Colorado Opportunity Fund, bought its first portfolio for undisclosed terms at the end of 2009, according to Pittman. The properties in the deal, whose loan value totaled $12.7 million, include 64 condominium and townhome units in metro Denver and Colorado Springs. The portfolio also includes 113 lots for single-family homes in those markets as well as Greeley, Pueblo and Milliken.

The properties were formerly owned by an undisclosed Colorado lender.

“We are starting to see some early signs of recovery in the local housing market, and felt this was an ideal opportunity to benefit from these improving conditions,” Ray Pittman, president of Pittman Development, said in a statement. “We’re making this investment in Colorado because we believe that both our economy, and the value of these assets, will bounce back.”

Pittman formerly was an executive at Catellus Development Corp., now part of Denver-based ProLogis (NYSE: PLD), and national commercial real estate brokerage firm CB Richard Ellis Inc.

Pittman Development’s current projects include High Point Omnicenter office/industrial project near Denver International Airport, whose initial phase includes 91,000 square feet in three buildings. The firm is also working with International Speedway Corp. of Daytona Beach, Fla., on developing a proposed, $400 million NASCAR raceway/stadium project at Interstate 70 and E-470.

The new fund is San Diego-based Pathfinder’s first fund focused exclusively on Colorado. It’s overseen by the Pittman Pathfinder Realty Ventures LLC joint venture recently formed by the two companies.

Pathfinder specializes in distressed property investment, and has acquired more than $150 million in defaulted commercial real estate loans and lender-owned properties since 2006.