What Lift Partners does

Lift Partners is a San Francisco-based real estate investment firm founded in 2015 that focuses on the adaptive reuse and repositioning of underutilized industrial and office properties along the West Coast. The firm is structured around four discretionary private equity funds — Fund I ($50M, 2018), Fund II ($425M buying power, 2020), Fund III ($205M commitments, 2022), and Fund IV ($500M purchasing capacity, 2025) — totaling more than $1.28B in aggregated firepower. The company has acquired 11 assets cumulatively worth $20B (per company self-reporting) and currently manages a portfolio exceeding 2.2 million square feet across the San Francisco Bay Area, Pacific Northwest (Seattle), and Southern California markets. Its investment activities span acquisition sourcing, asset management, leasing, and construction management, with construction brought in-house via a Director of Construction hired in November 2023.

The business model generates revenue from three streams: rental income from repositioned and leased industrial/office properties, asset management fees on its fund vehicles, and episodic gains from property dispositions such as the 16-asset sale to TPG in June 2021. The firm's go-to-market is direct: it acquires properties (often off-market through broker relationships and institutional co-investors such as Morgan Stanley, Westbrook Partners, Acre Valley, Blackbird, and PCCP), repositions them with hands-on construction oversight, and leases directly to tenants through an in-house asset management team. Lift Partners operates with a lean team of 1-10 employees, leveraging decades of principal-level experience from Managing Partners Patrick Fisher (formerly Wells Fargo, MHF Real Estate) and Michael Murray (formerly Terreno Realty, Wells Fargo), supported by a controller and acquisition/construction professionals with backgrounds at Blum Capital, Stockbridge, Shorenstein, Cushman & Wakefield, and Outrigger Industrial.

Customer segments are split between industrial tenants (warehousing, manufacturing, last-mile distribution, storage) and office tenants seeking repositioned space in strategic West Coast submarkets. Marketing and distribution are conducted through the company website (liftrp.com), LinkedIn, press releases distributed to industry publications including The Registry and The Real Deal, and direct tenant leasing. The firm is privately held under the legal entity Lift Real Estate Partners LLC, domiciled in California.

Name

Lift Partners

Legal name

Lift Real Estate Partners LLC

Website

https://liftrp.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Lift Partners is a San Francisco-based real estate investment firm founded in 2015 that acquires, repositions, and manages industrial and office properties across the West Coast through four discretionary funds totaling over $1.28 billion in purchasing capacity.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Rental Income: Revenue generated from leasing industrial and office properties to tenants after repositioning
2. Asset Management Fees: Management fees earned from managing real estate investment funds on behalf of investors
3. Property Sale Gains: Profits realized from selling repositioned properties after value appreciation

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Lift Partners is a full-service real estate investment company that acquires underutilized industrial and office properties along the U.S. West Coast, repositions and redevelops them through active asset management and construction oversight, and leases the improved space to commercial tenants. Capital is deployed through a series of four discretionary private real estate funds (Fund I through Fund IV) with combined purchasing capacity exceeding $1.28 billion.

Product overview

Lift Partners is a full-service real estate investment company operating as a single unified offering focused on the adaptive reuse and repositioning of industrial and office properties along the West Coast. The company manages a series of four discretionary private equity funds (Fund I through Fund IV) with combined purchasing capacity exceeding $1.28 billion. The investment strategy encompasses acquisition, asset management, leasing, and construction management services across three primary markets: San Francisco Bay Area, Pacific Northwest (Seattle), and Southern California.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Real Estate Investment Services Full-service real estate investment services focused on the adaptive reuse and repositioning of industrial and office properties along the West Coast, including acquisition, asset management, leasing, and construction management.
• Fund I First discretionary real estate fund targeting value-add industrial and office opportunities on the West Coast, with $50MM in equity commitments raised in 2018.
• Fund II Second discretionary real estate fund with $425MM in buying power for continued West Coast industrial real estate investments.
• Fund III Third discretionary real estate fund with $205MM in commitments for industrial property acquisitions across the West Coast.
• Fund IV Fourth discretionary real estate fund with $500MM in purchasing capacity for West Coast industrial real estate investments, currently being deployed.

Quantifiable outcome

• 65+ properties acquired and managed across West Coast markets

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• First Industrial Realty Trust: Diversified industrial REIT with development, acquisition, and repositioning capabilities across major U.S. markets including the West Coast. Colter Knight previously held investment roles at First Industrial, and the platform's value-add industrial strategy directly overlaps with Lift's.
• Terreno Realty Corporation: Public industrial-only REIT focused on the same six U.S. coastal markets including Bay Area, Seattle, and Los Angeles — where Lift Partners is concentrated. Managing Partner Michael Murray previously oversaw 4.4M SF at Terreno, making it the closest direct comp in geography, asset class, and strategy.
• Stockbridge Capital Group: San Francisco-based real estate investment manager running industrial and other property PE funds with multi-billion AUM. Controller Heather Bui previously managed real estate PE funds at Stockbridge with over $2B in aggregate equity commitments, making it a tightly comparable private-market peer.
• Rexford Industrial Realty: Public industrial REIT concentrated almost entirely in Southern California infill submarkets, pursuing a value-add repositioning strategy highly analogous to Lift Partners' adaptive-reuse industrial model. Similar tenant mix and rent-growth thesis.

Broad incumbents

• Westbrook Partners: Large private equity real estate investment firm and Lift Partners' core JV co-invest partner since 2019. While broader in geography and product type, it operates the same value-add acquisition-and-repositioning playbook on West Coast industrial.
• Prologis, Inc. The largest global industrial REIT and logistics real estate platform, with significant West Coast infill exposure. A broad incumbent that defines the competitive backdrop for value-add industrial investors like Lift Partners, rather than a direct niche competitor.
• Shorenstein Properties: San Francisco-based privately held real estate investment and development firm active across the West Coast. VP Colby Schaefer previously executed over $1.2B of transactions at Shorenstein, giving direct overlap in office and industrial West Coast acquisitions.

Emerging players

• CA Ventures: Diversified real estate investment platform with industrial, multifamily, and student housing strategies. Colter Knight also held an investment role at CA Ventures, giving partial overlap in industrial acquisitions and capital markets execution.
• Outrigger Industrial: Boutique industrial real estate investment platform with development and acquisition focus. Senior Associate Colter Knight previously led underwriting and asset management at Outrigger across $653M of capitalization, making it a closely comparable emerging industrial PE peer.

Others

• PCCP, LLC: Private equity real estate debt and equity firm and core JV co-invest partner with Lift Partners on West Coast industrial acquisitions (e.g., South San Francisco $28M JV). Functions as both a capital partner and a comparable institutional RE investor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lift-real-estate-partners

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lift Partners