Hyatt heiress's family office invests in Southern California

The family office of Hyatt heiress Karen Pritzker, and her husband Michael Vlock – in conjunction with real estate firm Colony Capital – has invested $50 million (€36.8 million) in an initiative to transform Southern Californian residential housing.

In partnership with American Coastal Properties the scheme will take dated homes in up-and-coming neighbourhoods in San Diego, Orange County and Los Angeles and spend 50 to 100% of the purchase price on renovations.

American Coastal Properties president Nick Sinatra said the market for buy-to-rent housing and “fix and flips” in the region was overcrowded. The firm plans to transform 40 to 60 properties a year into architecturally-designed homes and town houses.

"There are plenty of investors who can buy a home in a mid-level Southern California market and invest 10% of the purchase price on upgrades and then sell," Sinatra said.

"There are not as many investors possessing the operational skill and capital to do what we're doing with higher end homes."

The Pritzker/Vlock family office portfolio includes public private equities, biotech, industrial and medical equipment and technology businesses, as well as real estate. Its largest holdings are in Hyatt, the family business founded by Pritzker’s grandfather, and Apple.

Colony Capital, founded in 1991 by billionaire investor Thomas J Barrack Jr, is a privately-held investment firm with over $25 billion in assets under management. The Neverland Ranch, formerly owned by the late Michael Jackson, is part of its portfolio.