Mana Investments

What Mana Investments does

Mana Investments, Inc. is a privately held real estate investment and development firm founded in 2012 and headquartered in Carlsbad, California. The company invests on behalf of institutional capital partners, specializing in four core strategies: Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (ground-up multifamily in walkable California coastal neighborhoods), Adaptive Re-Use (repositioning underperforming retail, office, and hospitality assets), Covered Land Plays (acquiring commercial assets at cap-rate valuations with redevelopment upside), and Land Entitlement (California-focused land development leveraging the Housing Accountability Act). Each investment is structured through a single-purpose LLC with Mana serving as Development or General Partner, with deal sizes ranging from $2 million to $70 million across the Western United States.

The firm's operational platform spans the full development lifecycle: capitalization through a network of debt and equity partners, acquisition, entitlements, value engineering, horizontal infrastructure, vertical construction (via wholly-owned subsidiary Aspen Residential), and asset management. Since founding, Mana has executed 27 investments across 14 cities, amassing a portfolio of 2,700+ residential lots and a pipeline of 4,155 homes, with total home values exceeding $2 billion as of 2014. The company employs approximately 8 key professionals and generates revenue through development profits on sale or lease, asset management fees, and land sales to homebuilders such as Lennar and Van Daele Homes.

Mana's customer base is institutional and project-based, including capital partners (via joint ventures with firms like Hunter Street Partners), homebuilder land purchasers, and senior housing operators (e.g., Calson Management at The Well at Sunset). The firm leverages vertical integration through Aspen Residential to reduce construction risk and control costs, supported by a senior team with 24-45 years of industry experience. The company maintains active development projects across California including Hawley Lofts in San Diego, Girard Lofts in La Jolla, Gunter Lofts in Morgan Hill, and the mixed-use Well at Sunset in Livermore.

Name

Mana Investments

Legal name

Mana Investments, Inc.

Website

https://manainv.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Mana Investments is a Carlsbad, CA-based real estate investment and development firm founded in 2012 that invests on behalf of institutional capital partners across California and the Western United States, executing value-add, entitlement, and adaptive reuse strategies through a vertically integrated platform including its Aspen Residential construction subsidiary.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Real Estate Investment & Development

NAICS

Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259), Other Financial Vehicles (525990)

SIC

Real Estate Dealers (For Their Own Account) (6532), Investors, Nec (6799)

akta.pro primary industry

Real Estate Investment Management (Acquisitions & Dispositions) (BPAJAMAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Real Estate Funds — Opportunistic / Development (FSANAEAI), Real Assets — Operating Platforms & Direct Investments (FSAAAKAL)

Keywords

• Real estate investment
• Value-add development
• Land entitlement
• Multi-family development
• Adaptive reuse

Headquarters

HQ city

Carlsbad

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Real Estate Development Profits: Acquiring, entitling, and developing properties for sale or lease. Focus on value-add investments, adaptive reuse, covered land plays, and land entitlement in California markets.
2. Asset Management: Managing real estate investments through single purpose LLCs where Mana functions as Development or General Partner. Revenue from asset management and development fees.
3. Land Sales: Selling entitled land and residential lots to homebuilders. Portfolio of 2,700+ lots with home values exceeding $2 billion sold to builders like Lennar.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Mana Investments acquires, entitles, develops, and manages value-add real estate assets on behalf of institutional capital partners. Core activities include ground-up multi-family and mixed-use development, adaptive reuse of commercial properties, covered land plays, and California land entitlement under the Housing Accountability Act. Each investment is held in a single-purpose LLC with Mana serving as Development or General Partner.

Product overview

Mana Investments operates as a real estate investment and development firm with a portfolio of residential land and multi-family housing projects across California. The firm offers integrated investment services encompassing capital acquisition, land entitlement, value engineering, horizontal infrastructure, and vertical construction through its wholly-owned subsidiary Aspen Residential. The company specializes in four primary investment strategies: Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (ground-up apartment development in walkable neighborhoods), Adaptive Re-Use (repositioning retail/hospitality/office assets), Covered Land Plays (commercial-to-residential redevelopment), and Land Entitlement (California land development under Housing Accountability Act). The product portfolio includes active development projects such as The Well at Sunset (mixed-use with senior housing in Livermore), Hawley Lofts (74-unit apartment complex in San Diego), Girard Lofts (retail-residential in La Jolla), Gunter Lofts (mixed-use in Morgan Hill), Mtn Retreat @ Montreux, and numerous residential development projects across California.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Well at Sunset A mixed-use redevelopment project in Livermore, California featuring medical and creative office space, supporting retail, and a 128-unit senior housing facility with independent living, assisted living, and memory care services.
• Hawley Lofts A 74-unit luxury apartment complex in the Loma Portal neighborhood of Point Loma, San Diego, built on the former site of Hawley Auto Body (1965-2023), spanning 37,135 square feet across five parcels.
• Girard Lofts

Quantifiable outcome

• 4,155 homes developed or in pipeline
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Calson ManagementcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 6 April 2022California-based senior living specialist in construction and operations. Purchased 9-acre parcel from Mana Investments at The Well at Sunset for development of 128-unit senior housing complex. The deal was a land sale transaction enabling Mana to monetize part of its Livermore holdings.
• Hunter Street PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 June 2018Minneapolis-based alternative investment management firm. Joint venture partner with Mana Investments for real estate acquisitions and development. First investment was Sunset Office Plaza acquisition in Livermore, CA (78,747 sq ft, 10 buildings, 13.5 acres). Partnership continued with The Well at Sunset mixed-use redevelopment project.
• Van Daele HomesminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 12 December 2014Family-owned homebuilding company based in Southern California. Partnership with Mana Investments to develop Esperanza, a 12-acre infill site with 52 luxury single-family homes in downtown Morgan Hill, Silicon Valley.
• Aspen ResidentialcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVertically integrated construction company founded by Mana Investments with Bruce Bonfield as President. Integrated into the investment platform to reduce risk, allow proper alignment, and control costs. Includes in-house purchasing and multiple site superintendents.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Brookfield Real Estate: Global real estate investor with significant U.S. multifamily, office repositioning, and development exposure. Comparable to Mana in strategy mix but operates at a scale and capital intensity that Mana's institutional partners benchmark against.
• Starwood Capital Group: Large-scale private real estate investment firm with deep value-add, opportunistic, and repositioning strategies across the U.S. Comparable to Mana in strategy emphasis (value-add, adaptive reposition) but with vastly more capital, broader product lines, and a global footprint.
• TPG Real Estate Partners: Private equity real estate platform investing across the U.S. with strategies spanning value-add, opportunistic, and development. Comparable to Mana on strategy type and institutional LP base, but at materially larger fund and check sizes.
• Blackstone Real Estate: World's largest real estate private equity platform, with active value-add, opportunistic, and rental housing strategies. Most relevant as a benchmark for institutional deployment and California multifamily exposure rather than as a direct competitor at Mana's deal sizes.

Direct peers

• Sabal Financial Group: Real estate investment manager affiliated with Oaktree Capital where Mana's managing partner Orville Power previously served as a portfolio manager. Comparable in mandate scope (institutional capital deployment into real estate) and in the value-add/distress orientation Mana was originally built around.
• AEW Capital Management: U.S. real estate investment manager running value-add, core, and development strategies for institutional capital, including multifamily repositioning in coastal markets. Closely comparable to Mana in LP type, strategy mix, and West Coast focus.
• Hunter Street Partners: Minneapolis-based alternative investment manager that co-invests with Mana on real estate acquisitions such as Sunset Office Plaza and The Well at Sunset. Operates a similar JV-driven, institutional-capital real estate investment model and is the most directly comparable peer.

Others

• Lennar Corporation: National homebuilder and direct buyer of Mana's entitled lots (e.g., the 31-lot Vista acquisition for $4.76M). Relevant as a key monetizing counterparty and pricing benchmark for Mana's land-entitlement thesis rather than a competitor.
• Toll Brothers: National luxury homebuilder where Mana's managing partner Orville Power previously worked in land acquisition. Relevant as a comparable customer base for Mana's lot pipeline and as a reference for land-pricing benchmarks in California.
• Calson Management: California-based senior living developer that purchased a 9-acre parcel from Mana at The Well at Sunset for a 128-unit senior housing project. Comparable to Mana as a California operator but on the senior-living niche side of the value chain.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mana-investments-inc-?trk=similar-pages_result-card_full-click
• Instagraminstagram.com/mana_investments_inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries1 record

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 Mana Investments