An asset manager with a specialist's edge.
First and foremost, Cohort Equity is an asset manager. We run commercial real estate to institutional standards: monthly reporting, sharper lease and NOI calls, lender relations, and a close watch on covenants and capital spending. It's the everyday discipline that keeps what our clients own safe and growing.
What sets us apart is where we look for value. We take on the messy, distressed situations most managers avoid and most lenders want gone: stalled developments, defaulted loans, assets carrying too much debt that would be worth far more finished than they are right now.
Working those situations out is how we protect value. When a deal needs funding, we bring it to our investment banking partners, who raise the capital. We stay on to manage the asset and advise through to the exit, and every deal is backed by real property and priced so the numbers hold even when the market doesn't.
Managing what you own, and finding what's worth owning.
Most of our edge comes from doing both jobs well: the deal-making that sets the price we get in at, and the asset management that protects it and grows it from there.
Asset Management
We run commercial assets the way an institution would. You get monthly reporting your lenders and partners will respect, smarter lease and NOI decisions, a handle on covenants and capital spending, and honest advice on when to hold and when to sell. All without paying for a full-time team.
Distressed & Special Situations
This is where we go looking for value. We find bank-owned and off-market situations, buy the debt for less than it's owed, put the right capital structure in place, and see the project through to a sale. It's serious distressed-credit work, done at the pace a deal actually moves.
Deal Advisory
We bring the deals we source and structure to our investment banking partners, who are licensed to raise and place the capital. We do the groundwork they need: the underwriting, the capital structure, the documents, and a clear view of the risk. Once the deal closes, we manage the asset and advise through to the exit.
The same disciplined lifecycle,
every transaction.
Find the situation before it is a listing
We work our relationships with lenders, receivers, and owners to find assets trading below what they're really worth. Usually ones that would be worth far more once they're finished or restructured.
Treat the purchase as a credit negotiation
We give the seller a clean, final exit, keep the existing security and its priority, and lock in exclusivity. The discount we negotiate to face value becomes our margin of safety.
Price the downside, then the deal
We build one live model that runs a base case, a softer case, and a real stress case. We keep debt to a conservative ceiling, size the equity to fit, and pay every layer of capital for the risk it actually takes.
Paperwork that ties out
Letters of intent, term sheets, and the transaction documents our partners need. Every figure ties back to the same model, and every document is honest about its own economics.
Assemble and run the team
We bring in the people who deliver: a quantity surveyor, a valuer, transaction and security lawyers, engineers, sales agents, project managers, and a dedicated risk lead. We run the whole transaction the way a general contractor runs a build.
Structured by us, raised by our partners
We design the capital structure and the terms for each layer, then bring the finished deal to our investment banking partners. They are licensed to raise and place the capital, and that is their job. Ours is to hand them a deal that is well underwritten and ready to go.
Finish it, watch it, return the capital
We run the build and the sales program, report every month, and return capital on schedule. When holding or refinancing beats a forced sale, we do that instead.
Every distressed deal starts at the negotiating table.
Most distressed situations have been stuck for a while before we see them. The lender wants its money back, the owner wants a way out, and the talks have gone in circles. We come in with a different question: what would a clean, final resolution be worth to each side?
Sometimes the answer is buying the property. Often it's buying the loan secured against it, for less than what's owed, and stepping into the lender's position. Either way, we price the downside before we make an offer, and we only commit when the numbers hold up under stress.
Our general approach. We don't publish details of transactions in progress. Nothing on this site is an offer of securities.
Start a conversationWho we're here for.
Owners & Lenders
Maybe a project has stalled, or it's carrying more debt than it can handle. Maybe you're a lender holding a loan you'd rather be rid of. We take the problem off your hands: we clear the debt, pay for the work that's left, and get the asset finished and sold. You get a clean exit on a set timeline, you keep the value a foreclosure would have wiped out, and in many cases you get your personal guarantees back.
Capital Partners
Investment banks and licensed placement agents looking for well-structured, asset-backed deals. We find the situation, underwrite it downside first, build the capital structure and the documents, and bring it to you ready to place. You raise the capital. We manage the asset and report on it through to the exit.
The Diaspora
Jamaicans and Caribbean people living abroad who own property back home, or want to, and need someone they can trust on the ground. We're from the same community, and we manage assets in Jamaica to the same standard a big institution would, with reporting you can follow from wherever you are.
Vitalia. Homes in the hills above Kingston.
Vitalia is a small residential development on a green hillside in upper St. Andrew, with open views across Kingston. There are two kinds of home: two-bedroom residences and two-storey penthouses.
Homes are expected to be ready in June 2027. Register your interest and you'll be first to hear about availability and pricing.
Two-bedroom
About 1,000 sq ft, with two bedrooms, open-plan living and dining, a kitchen with an island, and a balcony.
Two-storey penthouse
About 1,700 sq ft over two floors, with two bedrooms plus a bonus room, a double-height living room, an upstairs sitting room and full views over the city.
Register your interest
Be first to hear about availability, pricing and viewings.
Click a plan to open it full size.
Images are artist's impressions and photographs of the model residence, shown for illustration only. Finishes and layouts may vary. Starting prices are indicative, quoted in US dollars converted at J$156 to US$1, and are subject to availability and change without notice. The delivery date is an estimate. Nothing here is an offer or a contract for sale.
Led by a principal,
backed by a real team.
"For more than twenty years I've made real decisions with real money in real assets. I've never advised from the sidelines. I've done the work. That's what I bring to every deal and every client."
Cohort Equity is led by its founder, David A. Lee, who has spent more than 22 years in real estate, private equity, and executive roles across Jamaica, the Caribbean, and the United States.
He holds a Master of Science in Real Estate from NYU's Schack Institute and a BBA from Baruch College. He has been a CEO and a chief commercial officer in financial services, and has sat on the boards of the Jamaica Mortgage Bank and ISP Finance Services, a company listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange. These are places where real money and real accountability are on the line.
Every deal runs with a named team behind it: quantity surveyors, valuers, lawyers, engineers, sales agents, project managers, and a dedicated risk lead. What clients and partners get is someone who has managed the assets, structured the capital, and run the businesses himself, and who holds every job to the same standard.
See how we work
A short profile of the firm: what we look for, how we underwrite, and how we put capital together. It describes our capability, not any specific transaction, and it is not an offer to invest.
Enter your details to download the capability profile.
By enquiry only. Nothing on this site is an offer of securities. Your details are used only to deliver this profile and respond to your enquiry. We do not sell or share your data.
What people ask before the first call
What does Cohort Equity Real Estate Partners do?
Cohort Equity is a commercial real estate asset manager that specializes in distressed and special situations. We manage commercial property to institutional standards, and we find and restructure stalled, defaulted, and over-leveraged assets. We bring those deals to our licensed investment banking partners, who raise the capital, and we manage the assets and advise through to the exit. We operate in Jamaica and the United States.
What are distressed and special situations in commercial real estate?
They are properties or loans in trouble: a stalled development, a defaulted mortgage, a non-performing loan a lender wants off its books, or an asset carrying more debt than it can support. These situations are often worth far more once they are resolved and finished. We buy in at a discount, fix the capital structure, complete the work, and sell or refinance.
Does Cohort Equity work in Jamaica, the United States, or both?
Both. Cohort Equity is based in Jamaica and works across Jamaica and the United States. We are built to serve the Caribbean diaspora in particular: people living in the U.S. who want trusted, institutional management of real estate back home in Jamaica.
How does Cohort Equity work with the Jamaican and Caribbean diaspora?
Serving the diaspora is central to what we do. We manage property on the ground in Jamaica to an institutional standard for owners who live abroad, and we advise on distressed and special situations back home. Cohort Equity does not take investment directly. Capital for the deals we structure is raised by our licensed investment banking partners.
How can the Jamaican diaspora invest in real estate in Jamaica?
Many Jamaicans living in the United States and elsewhere want to own or invest in real estate back home but cannot manage it from abroad. Cohort Equity sources, structures, and manages commercial real estate in Jamaica to an institutional standard and reports every month. We do not raise capital ourselves. Investment in the deals we structure is arranged through our licensed investment banking partners.
How does Cohort Equity underwrite a deal?
We underwrite the downside first. Every deal is priced on its stress case, debt is held to a conservative loan-to-cost ceiling, and the discount we negotiate on the way in becomes the margin of safety. We put the coverage and any related-party terms on the table for our capital partners up front rather than burying them.
Who is David A. Lee?
David A. Lee is the founder and principal of Cohort Equity Real Estate Partners. He has spent more than 22 years in real estate, private equity and executive roles across Jamaica, the Caribbean and the United States, and holds a Master of Science in Real Estate from NYU's Schack Institute and a BBA from Baruch College.
Is Cohort Equity a registered investment adviser, and how is capital raised?
Cohort Equity structures and manages the deals. It is not a registered investment adviser and does not publicly solicit investment. When a deal is ready, the capital is raised and placed by our licensed investment banking partners. Nothing on this site is an offer of securities.
Have a situation?
Let's talk it through.
There are two ways to start. If you own or hold the asset, tell us about it and your timeline. If you're an investment banking or placement partner, tell us the kind of deals you want to see. Anything you share with us stays confidential.