All Forum Posts by: Jay P.

Quote from @Mark L Weglarz:

I am an investor in the Grocapitus/UGro Build to Rent (BTR) Texas Fund and the "Pre-Seed" Fund.  Both have different names now - I believe they are Mission Texas and Mission 10k.  I have to say I have been investing in commercial real estate since 1997 and have never been more gravely concerned about an investment I have made than these two.  It feels like almost as soon as we invested the "wheels came off".  And it also feels like I invested in a virtual company where there is nothing solid.  No office to just call where someone knowledgeable answers and tries to help you.  Last time I scheduled time with Neal Bawa he just plain did not attend the call.  Extremely, extremely disappointing.  And when my tax info (K-1s) have come out they have sent me K-1's with other people's private info. Even after I sorted out the info on my K-1s the first time, the next year the info came out incorrect AGAIN.  And again there is no office to just call to resolve the problem.  All virtual assistants etc and GoogleForms.  Anyone else here in these same two investments - or either one?

 Very similar experience. The projects that were supposed to have been complete by now hasn't even started and there is no response to any emails. Given the number of projects and funds that have lured investors but have made no progress and keeping all the investors at dark, it feels like a well planned out scheme to swindle investors of their investments.

More projects that are dead in the water.

• Botanical SouthPark, Austin - Projected construction completion (Oct 2023), Projected IRR 20%, Preferred return 8%
• Botanica Chase Hill, San Antonio - Projected construction completion (June 2023), Projected IRR 22%, Preferred return 10%
• Park Lane, Houston - Projected construction completion (July 2022), Projected IRR 22%, Preferred return 8%

Quote from @Jeffrey Liou:

Quote from @Jay P.:

I wish I had read this thread three years ago. I have invested in Grocapitus' project in Texas and it has been three years now. They couldn't get a construction loan and were constantly blaming the cities being tough on their permit process. After three years, they have put a pause on the construction for another year stating that the labor costs are too high now. I don't know if they will ever start construction and if they do how long will my money be locked with them.

At this point, I would recommend to stay away from them until they can show some results with new constructions.

In the meantime, I had invested in another syndication in the same time frame in the same Texas market. They have completed construction and 90% of the units are leased up. A payout of 8% has already been made and they have an exit plan in the works.

So, there is no reason why Grocapitus was not able to get going other than their incompetence.

 Hi Jay,

May I ask if you invested in the Botanica SouthPark?  Or was it another project in TX?

 Yes to both.

Looks like they are doing this on many projects. The same message sent out to many investors in different projects. Not providing updates and the projects going nowhere. But, new projects are being announced and more investors are solicited :( When they can't handle what they have on hand, how ballsy are they to seek more investors and more "projects"? Seems worse than a Ponzi scheme.

I think this is a very accurate description. Other than his multifamilyU, he also puts a show by going to different investment clubs and workplaces. For a new investor with tech money or any other money, it is going to be tough to learn everything theoretically and identify the right investment. That is not a defense, but people learn better through experience and that is being taken advantage of.

Quote from @Jay Bru:

Last week Neal and the staff at Gro Capitus let us all know that ALL of our Principals were at risk now in the RTP Nova project of the newly built Townhomes.  Originally it was only going to take a year after investing 3 years ago, but the excuses just kept building Quarter after Quarter with Covid Covid Covid, construction costs, interest rates, and then their Facebook Ads not working.  Even as early as this August, they were supposed to send us our original investment back, and then it really took a turn last week and when I finally got Neal on a Zoom call, he was talking another 2 years before it all played out.  The guy should be in jail in my mind, but even with the market and all the other problems that have come up, they could have been straight with everyone.  It went from getting our principal back in the August webinar to our entire principal being at risk a few months later.  The part that really upset me was their attitudes.  Poor us, we worked so hard, we've tried everything, were transparent, but yet we still don't know where things went wrong and why the building still has not been completed.  I really never thought it would come to this. He sounds so intelligent on webinars, but can't even calculate losses properly, how could he calculate profit?  It needs to be discussed in forums like this and shut Gro Capitus down.  

 This is definitely a scam then with the same pattern in every project. I had a zoom call with Neal and nothing solid came out other than him asking me to wait for 1 more year. Given their poor execution, I asked him what would it take to cut the loses and pay the principal back and he said it would result in 50% loss of principal. Now that I see your post, I could be losing all of it.

Is there a way to reach out to all the people who have invested in these projects and think about a lawsuit? I don't know if we can get anything back as there may not be much left in the LLC, but at least he should be held accountable and not keep doing this.

If this is the playbook they use on new construction, then it feels like a scam. I checked with others who have invested with Grocapitus before and they said that they received pretty good returns, but they were not new construction. I'm yet to find someone who has made money with them on new construction.

I have DM-ed you. 

I wish I had read this thread three years ago. I have invested in Grocapitus' project in Texas and it has been three years now. They couldn't get a construction loan and were constantly blaming the cities being tough on their permit process. After three years, they have put a pause on the construction for another year stating that the labor costs are too high now. I don't know if they will ever start construction and if they do how long will my money be locked with them.

At this point, I would recommend to stay away from them until they can show some results with new constructions.

In the meantime, I had invested in another syndication in the same time frame in the same Texas market. They have completed construction and 90% of the units are leased up. A payout of 8% has already been made and they have an exit plan in the works.

So, there is no reason why Grocapitus was not able to get going other than their incompetence.

Thank you all for your inputs. It is clear that being a resident of CA, there isn't too much of an advantage in setting up an LLC outside of CA.

I reached out the syndicator as suggested and they quickly obliged to our request to invest individually. I'm going to invest as a LP directly into the syndicator's LLC.