Finding Opportunity in Niche Real Estate with Amachie Ackah of Clay Cove Capital
On this episode of The Kirsh Connection, I sit down with Amachie Ackah, Co-Founder of Clay Cove Capital, to discuss how his firm identifies investment opportunities at the intersection of private equity, operating businesses and real estate. We discuss why Clay Cove focuses on growing niche sectors such as art storage, early childhood education and alternative hospitality; why they prefer building platforms rather than making one-off investments; how they encourage operating partners to own their real estate and turn a liability into an asset; and how they identify operating leverage that can drive value across a platform.
A great conversation about looking beyond traditional real estate asset classes to find opportunities others may be overlooking.
We discuss:
- Finding Growth in Overlooked Real Estate Niches — Where are the next interesting real estate opportunities? Amachie explains why Clay Cove is following the growth of businesses like art storage, early childhood education and alternative hospitality—and the real estate opportunities that come with them.
- Why Invest in Platforms, Not Just Properties? — Clay Cove isn’t simply looking for individual real estate investments. Amachie explains why they prefer investing behind operating platforms and how that approach can create opportunities to scale.
- Turn Your Rent Into an Asset — If an operating business is going to occupy real estate for years, why keep paying someone else rent? Amachie explains why Clay Cove encourages its operating partners to purchase their real estate—turning a long-term liability into an asset.
- Finding Operating Leverage — Buying assets is only part of the equation. Amachie discusses how Clay Cove looks for operating leverage within its investments and how improvements at the platform level can drive value across the business.