Form of Taking on Investors

[Michael Farraher]

Hello. I was recently hired by a RE developer as a Business Development Manager. Part of my role here is to raise capital for projects in the pipeline. To date, my boss has been self-financed or through traditional financing. He's got about 25 years under his belt and has done some pretty big projects (22 unit MF, 100k SF self storage, $10M TI project for public utility). 

He is looking for capital to move projects that he might otherwise be stalled on due to liquidity. He's not really looking for a JV/partner, but looking for capital exclusively. He's a typical developer (control freak), but very successful and smart as a whip.

My question is this: is it the norm to raise capital by way of a fund and a private placement memo (to fund various projects generally), or should I be looking for individual investors for project-based investments? 

It's a convoluted question, but I am curious to know what success others may have had with either approach. (N.B., I'm and attorney and am aware of the challenge of wading into securities regulations--I just don't know if it makes more sense to put together a fund vs. negotiating each investor's stake and position in each project)