Tomás Cruzat, left, stands with Dax Gitcho and Bryan Bennis. Together, the three are the managing partners of Southpeak, a new real estate investment firm with offices in Denver and Santiago, Chile. (Courtesy Southpeak Group)
A nascent Denver real estate investment firm has a secret ingredient: South American money.
“Our first investors, they took a flyer on us … And here we are, three years later, and it’s working,” said Dax Gitcho, managing partner of the Southpeak Group.
Southpeak has two offices. One is at 1962 Blake St. in downtown Denver. The other is in Santiago, Chile’s capital, where SouthPeak sources 70 percent of the money it uses to buy industrial properties in the United States.
Gitcho said the firm is using its first fund, SPG Industrial Fund I, to invest in “small-bay” industrial properties in New Jersey, Boulder and Denver. Earlier this month, it closed on its third property, a 23,000-square-foot warehouse in Boulder, for $5.5 million.
The business’ origin story began in 2019 with the Estallido Social, or “social outburst,” in Chile over a 4 percent hike in bus and subway fares.
The move unleashed a number of economic and social frustrations in the nation. Over 1.2 million people marched in a single protest, the largest in Chilean history. Citizens demanded a new constitution and the resignation of the president.
The unrest caused Chilean investors to sour on their domestic market, and looked abroad for another, more stable environment to park their dollars.
Enter Gitcho and co.
He and a dozen other local real estate professionals, including developer Kenny Monfort, had traveled to the county a year earlier, giving him insight into the region.
“Family offices in Chile could come directly into our fund … and skip a whole layer of fees. We’re a direct option. It’s really a competitive advantage for South America,” he said.
The fund also allows for non-U.S. investors to get their payouts without being subject to U.S. withholding tax.
Southpeak owns another industrial property in Boulder, along with one out in New Jersey. Gitcho has scoured the metro area, particularly along Interstates 25, 70 and Hwy. 36, to find the next pickup for his $20 million fund.
Gitcho’s firm has an office in the same building as Monfort.
“We’re hyper-focused on very specific sub markets in Denver, and we’ve gotten so close on a couple deals, we just haven’t bought anything yet,” Gitcho added.
Gitcho has been in the real estate industry for a while. He’s been in Colorado for over 20 years and has worked in development, wealth management and in a brokerage. He met his business partner Tomás Cruzat through mutual work in the Denver Children’s Foundation about a decade ago. Cruzat had come to Colorado from South America to get an MBA at the University of Colorado and stayed to do some real estate work around town.
A few years later, the duo met in South America to launch the business.
“We did a road show. Like, I don’t know, 26-28 meetings in like, one week, type-scenario, and raised money for the first fund,” Gitcho said.
The business bought its first property a few months later in May 2022, a warehouse in New Jersey.
“We do have capacity left in that fund to do another deal or two … we have dry powder,” Gitcho said.
Tomás Cruzat, left, stands with Dax Gitcho and Bryan Bennis. Together, the three are the managing partners of Southpeak, a new real estate investment firm with offices in Denver and Santiago, Chile. (Courtesy Southpeak Group)
A nascent Denver real estate investment firm has a secret ingredient: South American money.
“Our first investors, they took a flyer on us … And here we are, three years later, and it’s working,” said Dax Gitcho, managing partner of the Southpeak Group.
Southpeak has two offices. One is at 1962 Blake St. in downtown Denver. The other is in Santiago, Chile’s capital, where SouthPeak sources 70 percent of the money it uses to buy industrial properties in the United States.
Gitcho said the firm is using its first fund, SPG Industrial Fund I, to invest in “small-bay” industrial properties in New Jersey, Boulder and Denver. Earlier this month, it closed on its third property, a 23,000-square-foot warehouse in Boulder, for $5.5 million.
The business’ origin story began in 2019 with the Estallido Social, or “social outburst,” in Chile over a 4 percent hike in bus and subway fares.
The move unleashed a number of economic and social frustrations in the nation. Over 1.2 million people marched in a single protest, the largest in Chilean history. Citizens demanded a new constitution and the resignation of the president.
The unrest caused Chilean investors to sour on their domestic market, and looked abroad for another, more stable environment to park their dollars.
Enter Gitcho and co.
He and a dozen other local real estate professionals, including developer Kenny Monfort, had traveled to the county a year earlier, giving him insight into the region.
“Family offices in Chile could come directly into our fund … and skip a whole layer of fees. We’re a direct option. It’s really a competitive advantage for South America,” he said.
The fund also allows for non-U.S. investors to get their payouts without being subject to U.S. withholding tax.
Southpeak owns another industrial property in Boulder, along with one out in New Jersey. Gitcho has scoured the metro area, particularly along Interstates 25, 70 and Hwy. 36, to find the next pickup for his $20 million fund.
Gitcho’s firm has an office in the same building as Monfort.
“We’re hyper-focused on very specific sub markets in Denver, and we’ve gotten so close on a couple deals, we just haven’t bought anything yet,” Gitcho added.
Gitcho has been in the real estate industry for a while. He’s been in Colorado for over 20 years and has worked in development, wealth management and in a brokerage. He met his business partner Tomás Cruzat through mutual work in the Denver Children’s Foundation about a decade ago. Cruzat had come to Colorado from South America to get an MBA at the University of Colorado and stayed to do some real estate work around town.
A few years later, the duo met in South America to launch the business.
“We did a road show. Like, I don’t know, 26-28 meetings in like, one week, type-scenario, and raised money for the first fund,” Gitcho said.
The business bought its first property a few months later in May 2022, a warehouse in New Jersey.
“We do have capacity left in that fund to do another deal or two … we have dry powder,” Gitcho said.
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