Wheelock Street Capital

Wheelock Street Capital

Founded in 2008 by Merrick “Rick” Kleeman and Jonathan Paul, Wheelock Street Capital emerged from the financial crisis with a mandate to return to hands-on, institutionally backed real estate investing. Kleeman was an early partner at Starwood Capital Group, where he served as Head of Acquisitions and led deals for Westin Hotels & Resorts and Le Méridien. Paul co-founded Rockpoint Group after a tenure at Westbrook Partners and Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund, which included the take-private acquisition of Sunstone Hotel Investors. Their combined network and transactional record formed the foundation for what is now a firm managing $5 billion to $10 billion in assets. The firm pursues a dual-track strategy. Its opportunistic and value-add flagship series targets investments across all major property types in US markets where it sees above-market risk-adjusted returns. In parallel, its Long Term Value Fund focuses on cash-flowing assets in major domestic submarkets with strong long-term income growth potential. Deal execution spans office, hotel, multifamily, industrial, retail, and residential land, with confirmed positions including the acquisition of John Wieland Homes & Neighborhoods and a hospitality portfolio that has deployed roughly $885 million of equity into 51 hotels totaling over 10,000 rooms. Wheelock invests directly and through joint ventures, seeding strategic local partnerships in markets such as Boston and Nashville, where it has placed approximately $470 million in equity over the last five years. Since inception, Wheelock has raised eight funds representing over $5 billion in capital commitments from institutional investors. The firm currently deploys $1.2 billion through its opportunistic vehicle and $1.1 billion via its open-end long-term value fund. The team includes dedicated vertical leads such as Patrick Campbell for hospitality and Daniel Green for residential land — a model that seeks to combine generalist sourcing with specialized operational oversight. Recent operational news includes the development of Firefly, the first original golf course design by Andrew Green located on a Wheelock-owned property, which is expected to open to the public in summer 2026. What structurally separates Wheelock is its explicit hybrid approach: it functions neither as a pure allocator nor a pure operator but maintains select internal verticals with specialized asset experience. This architecture allows the firm to lead acquisitions in sectors where it holds an operational edge — notably hospitality and residential land — while remaining a generalist bidder elsewhere. The model is reinforced by meaningful principal co-investment, aligning Wheelock's team with its limited partners on every transaction.