AJ Capital launches real estate fund

AJ Capital Partners has launched AJ Capital Real Estate Fund II, according to a filing with the SEC. The fund hopes to raise $450 million in direct equity commitments.

AJ Capital Real Estate Fund II is a closed-end fund that will invest in hotel properties, mainly in the Caribbean and United States. The fund has raised $84.7 million so far.

AJ Capital will continue to grow its portfolio of lodging investments with AJ Capital Real Estate Fund II.

The U.S. hotel industry is stabilizing at normalized performance levels with healthy growth in average daily room rate, according to JLL. U.S. hotels observed RevPAR growth of 3.2 percent during the first three quarters of 2016, but growth varies widely among the top 25 markets.

Hotel cap rates increased approximately 20–30 basis points compared with the same period in the