| POSITION | Vice President Engineering |
| REPORTS TO | Tim Shaheen, Chief Development Officer, TA Digital |
| DATE | February 2024 |
| WEBSITE | https://tarealty.com/ |
| SEARCH CONTACT | Andy Lane @ CFS Partners M +1 414 807 4085 E andy@criticalfacility.com |
TA REALTY OVERVIEW
As one of the largest real estate investment firms in the nation, TA Realty has acquired, invested in, and/or managed over $39 billion of real estate on behalf of hundreds of U.S. and non-U.S. institutional investors and clients. TA Realty’s investment philosophy focuses on creating diversified real estate portfolios that aim to generate strong cash flow, receive intensive asset management and seek to achieve long-term value creation. For more than three decades, TA Realty has maintained this philosophy through multiple real estate and economic cycles, a strength recognized by pension funds, endowments, foundations, and high net worth individuals.
TA’s singular focus on domestic real estate investment enables them to build strong local relationships in key markets, resulting in first-look access to opportunities. Delivering value to investors and communities across real estate sectors. TA’s entrepreneurial and collaborative approach prioritizes strong returns for their investors—and their many long-term relationships as evidenced by TA’s commitment to their best interests.
TA Realty is headquartered in Boston MA with 115 professionals across real estate disciplines and geographies to include offices in Dallas TX, San Francisco CA, and Newport Beach CA. TA Digital is comprised of 24 partners, each of whom average 28 years of real estate experience and 18-year tenures at TA Realty. These successful tenures result from aligning with investors through significant co-investment, broad sharing of carried interest, and significant Partner ownership of the Firm. TA Realty executives have tremendous experience investing and managing in multiple real estate markets over broader economic cycles which creates a unique competitive advantage.
TA REALTY HISTORY
Founded in Boston, MA in 1982, TA Realty has been one of the top private real estate investment firms in the United States. Their philosophy has not changed, and as they continue to grow their offices and national portfolio, they remain committed to their entrepreneurial spirit and focused approach to investing.
TA Realty LLC is 70% owned by Mitsubishi Estate Co, LTD. (MEC) and 30% owned by TA Realty’s Partners. MEC is a fully integrated real estate services company whose consolidated businesses offer development, property management, asset management, investment management and real estate services across the office, residential, retail and hotel sectors internationally and in the US. TA Realty is MEC’s primary real estate investment management platform in the US.
Key Metrics
– Managed, acquired, or invested over $39 billion since 1982 (as of 9/2022)
– Over 1,200 industrial, multifamily, retail, office, mixed-use, and data center investments acquired over 40 years.
– Seasoned partners averaging almost 30 years of experience.
– One of the largest Investment Managers, buying/selling, of industrial real estate in the U.S.
– TA Realty has over $20B in current AUM; Mitsubishi Realty has over $100B in current AUM.
– Dedicated research focused on adding value throughout the life of the investments.
– Establishing a culture that places ESG+R at the forefront of operational processes
INVESTMENT APPROACH
TA Realty is focused exclusively on private real estate investment in the United States, with deep expertise in acquiring, developing, managing, and selling real assets. Their goal is to build U.S. real estate portfolios diversified both by geography and property type, creating a balanced risk / return profile—and giving them the flexibility to successfully respond to changing capital market and real estate environments.
Value-Add Closed-End Strategy – TA Realty sponsors and manages value‐add closed-end real estate strategy, with approximately $5.9 billion in gross assets under management. TA invests in four main property types: industrial, multifamily, office and retail, with an emphasis on industrial holdings. Focusing on small-to-medium Investments, with an average asset size of approximately $25-$30M. TA Realty has experience investing across approximately 30 markets throughout the United States. They build portfolios with moderate leverage, capped at 50% loan-to-value.
Core Open-End Strategy – TA Realty’s core open-end strategy leverages decades of real estate experience to construct and operate a well-diversified portfolio of institutional-quality, core real estate holdings in major U.S. metropolitan areas, with an emphasis on steady income generation. Since 2019, TA Realty’s core open-end strategy has been reported to GRESB annually. TA Realty’s core open-end portfolio is strategically constructed with an overweight to industrial and multifamily vs. industry peers. The investments are concentrated in major U.S. gateway markets with an emphasis on steady growth and income generation. The investment strategy is diversified by property type, geography, industry exposure and tenancy, with hands-on asset management that drives Income growth at the property level.
Customized Separate / Advisory Accounts – TA Realty develops customized investment plans to meet clients’ objectives. Their experienced real estate professionals work closely with each client through acquisition, asset management, and disposition of assets. Their investment parameters vary based on each client’s expressed objectives around strategy, transaction size, geographic focus, property type, and leverage position. Portfolios typically have a core or build- to-core focus, occasionally concentrating on investment in a particular product type. Customized separate / advisory accounts totaling $4.3 billion in gross assets under management.
TA REALTY- INVESTMENT APPROACH CASE STUDIES
Location: Corona, CA
Size: 267,050 sq ft
Data Acquired: June 2017
Location: Pembroke Pines, FL
Size: 146,081 sq ft
Data Acquired: Dec 2018
TA DIGITAL
TA Digital was unofficially created in January 2023 with the appointment of Tim Shaheen as Chief Development Officer, Digital Real Estate. Tim is widely recognized as one of the most successful commercial executives in the data center market with impactful growth tenures with EdgeConneX and Aligned Data Centers. Tim is accountable for the strategy, planning, and execution of TA Digital in the development of its data center portfolio sites and leasing. TA Digital is the culmination of long-term strategic planning following Mitsubishi’s interest in digital infrastructure investment. TA Realty’s differentiating factors include their experience in fund sponsorship, their extensive network, a purpose-built platform focus, and an established and growing pipeline. TA Digital’s investment thesis is to capitalize on this growing, but fragmented digital infrastructure sector expected to have outsized impacts on the future economy by investing in the underlying real estate and ecosystem –
− Strong Market Fundamentals –
– Pace of data creation and movement is accelerating
– Demand significantly outpacing supply
– Mission critical real estate required as a result, for the foreseeable future
− Real Estate Approach Differentiator –
– 40+ years’ experience provides access, network, and discipline
– Value-Add lens has and continues to unlock value and niche opportunities
– Established investment pipeline
− Purpose Built Strategy Design for Digital Economy –
– Core-plus strategy
– Focused on hyperscale campuses and edge facilities
– Currently 4 US campuses comprising 1 GW of critical capacity to develop next generation data center infrastructure solutions.
TA DIGITAL LEADERSHIP
TA Realty brings together senior partners, with an average of nearly three decades of experience, and high-performing employees who thrive in our entrepreneurial, results-focused culture. This balance of stability and innovation sets them apart in a crowded and complex real estate investment landscape. TA Digital’s Real Estate Fund Team is comprised of Ali O’Rourke and Dave Buxbaum who head Portfolio Management and Asset Management respectively. They join an Advisory Group and firmwide resources to include Research, ESG+R, Valuations, Tax, and Investor Accounting services to support and assure the investment success of TA Digital.
Tim Shaheen
Chief Development Officer, Digital Real Estate
LinkedIn Profile
Allison O’Rourke
Partner
Portfolio Management
LinkedIn Profile
David Buxbaum
Partner
Asset Management
LinkedIn Profile
COMPANY NEWS
January 2024 – TA Realty launches dedicated hyperscale data center development arm
November 2023 – TA Realty Announces Single Tenant 430 MW Lease in Leesburg VA
September 2023 – TA Realty Appoints Allison O’Rourke and David Buxbaum as Partners
April 2023 – TA Realty Selected as 2023 Green Lease Leader by Dept of Energy Better Buildings Alliance and the IMT
April 2023 – Tim Shaheen of TA Realty forecasts record breaking year for data center growth
October 2021 – TA Realty Sees Long Term Growth in Data Centers
May 2021 – TA Realty Launches Development of Data Center Campus in Loudon County, VA
May 2021 – TA Realty planning $1.8B 300MW data center campus in Loudoun County VA
ESG+R MISSION STATEMENT
TA Realty is committed to evaluating our investments with a holistic sustainability approach, incorporating Environmental, Social, Governance and Resilience (ESG+R) into the evaluation and decision-making process. We incorporate ESG+R issues into our evolving policies which adds to our responsible business practices and seeks to positively impact our assets’ financial performance now and for the future. As a fiduciary, our selection of initiatives involves thoughtful analysis of expected results including the impact our assets have on the environment, the impact the environment has on our assets (climate change), our carbon footprint, and the environment in which our employees and tenants live and work. Sustainability factors are considered throughout the investment process, at all stages of an investment’s lifecycle; development, acquisition, operation and through disposition. Investing in ESG+R is expected to help future-proof our assets by decreasing operating costs, increasing tenant awareness, lowering environmental impacts, and mitigating physical and transition risks associated with climate change. This approach enables us to manage our risks and strive to create and preserve more value over the long term for our clients.
VICE PRESIDENT ENGINEERING
The Vice President of Engineering (VPE) will join TA Digital reporting to Tim Shaheen, Chief Development Officer, and oversee the day-to-day design and engineering initiatives across the growing campus development and data center portfolio.
The VPE will be an innovative data center design and engineering executive with demonstrated experience leading teams toward a culture of best practice excellence. In a lean environment, demonstrated leadership in the empowerment of contributions from the extensible team to work smarter is paramount. The VPE will establish design and engineering approaches, methodologies, policies, practices, and standards to ensure the highest level of sustainability, performance, and reliability. An ambition to think and act strategically and articulate an effective vision for green techniques, procurement, buy vs. build, and other Total Cost of Ownership considerations is a basis of criterion for success.
The VPE will leverage his/her expertise with the executive team to reimagine the design and engineering of all data center products and be intimately aware of construction, commissioning, operations, and sustainability of all TAD data center facilities to include –
– Lead design and engineering teams to ensure seamless delivery of new inventory
– Coordinate and plan supply chain activities, including management of major vendor relationships
– Provide thought leadership as TAD evolves its product delivery to meet changing market and specific customer demands
– Participate with the executive team to continuously support new revenue growth requirements.
– Develop plans and strategies aligned with revenue goals and keeping inventory ahead of leasing requirements.
– Lead design and engineering due diligence efforts in support of potential M&A opportunities
– Develop and implement design and engineering best practices; incorporate operating standards into security and operations practices.
– Identify process improvement and cost savings, evaluate, implement, and resolve as needed.
– Manage and positively influence key customer relationships, vendors, and partners in the design, build, procurement, commissioning, and turnover to operations ecosystem.
– Oversight and accountability for preparing, presenting, negotiating, and delivering to appropriately risk managed contractual obligations.
– Interface and align with corporate and local operations personnel to ensure appropriate design of customer solutions and to guarantee the quality of service delivery
– Provide input into the annual budgeting and planning process
– Continually seek industry and market information to provide TA REALTY with the intelligence necessary for successful new business development.
KNOWLEDGE & COMPETENCIES
The VP Engineering is expected to be both a data center subject matter expert and a business executive. Technical product knowledge in electrical and mechanical systems, building systems (BIM), DCIM, controls, contracts, and project management is expected. Executive characteristic and communication demands include –
– Explain via business case presentation the relevancy of information to executive and board members
– Plan, organize, and implement major projects. Perceive and identify issues in advance of critical problems developing. Perform well under tight time restrictions
– Negotiate effectively and command the respect of markets and vendors
– Understand and implement preventive and predictive maintenance procedures
– Exceptional analytical and decision-making skills to evaluate complex problems, including analyzing, comparing, and selecting the best solution for each circumstance
– Strong understanding of data center designs and how each impacts SLA agreements
– Financial acumen including the ability to create and understand budgets, financial analysis, and return on investment considerations
– Prioritize work based on business and customer demands, articulate concepts and ideas to a nontechnical audience, and lead customer-requested business reviews and audits
– Expert in design characteristics, installation, and operation of all data center infrastructure systems including electrical, mechanical, life safety, controls and security.
– Responsible attitude, ability to take initiative and ownership, and adapt in a fast-paced environment.
– Requires intermittent travel to data center, partners, and customer locations
KEY QUALIFYING CRITERIA
Data Center Engineering – Demonstrated breadth and complexity of data center environments designed leading to a successful track record of delivery and a conviction on best practices applied to current and near future design projects.
Business Acumen – Growth oriented commercial disposition with innovative thought leadership and nuanced understanding of P&L, human capital leverage, resource allocation, and technology utilization.
Financial Acumen – Experience in a data center real estate invested environment with requirements for investor rates of return, asset acquisition, and platform standardization for value creation.
Executive Leadership – Demonstrated history of leading internal teams to consistently perform at or above plan along with command of the theatre of external contractors and partners to execute to plan, on time and budget.
Culture – Alignment of core values with TA Digital’s vision, mission, and guiding principles of candor, courage, and transparency. Decision making in a lean environment requires extensive and thorough collaboration in a timely manner in order to maintain progress.
WHY CONSIDER THIS OPPORTUNITY WITH TA DIGITAL?
Ambition – TA Realty and TAD have embarked on a precedent setting data center development growth platform which meets next generation capacity demand requirements for hyperscale, cloud, and other large scale technology hosting and processing capacity.
Differentiation – TAD’s value proposition to the market and their customers is a deep expertise and intellectual resources to approach and deliver solutions in a more innovative and efficient manner than the market norm, resulting in outsized value creation initiatives.
Horsepower – TA Realty’s executives, global investors, and valued partners have been putting the plan for TAD together for a few years. The resources committed to the success of this initiative are substantial and all in place to launch this platform.
Precedent – TA Realty’s executive team possess remarkable track records in bringing large, ambitious capital plans together. TAD will benefit from their sophisticated investment, business building, and operational expertise in other market verticals to leverage for future growth.
Leadership – TAD is already comprised of a uniquely and exceptionally qualified team of investment and commercial professionals who have demonstrated remarkable success in their respective professional histories. This team requires an enduring TT built to win.
COMPENSATION
The compensation package for the VP Engineering will be determined on a case-by-case basis, relative to the finalist candidate requirements. It will include a competitive base salary, annual performance bonus, comprehensive health package, and long-term incentive compensation in the form of equity based on project and performance milestones.
SEARCH PROCESS
Following the receipt of a resume and mutually addressing Key Qualifying Criteria, culture fit, and professional motivation, we’ll make an Introduction to Tim Shaheen @ TA Digital in February 2024. Finalists will subsequently meet with members of TA Realty’s leadership team. The selected finalist will be presented with a compelling and competitive offer contingent on background check and thorough references.