Ridgecrest engages in private equity transactions, venture capital activities and the redevelopment of commercial real estate. Our area of interest is the I-70 & I-68 east-west corridor from Mt. Airy to Cumberland, MD, and the I-81 north-south corridor from Chambersburg, PA, to Martinsburg, WV. Due to the size and diversity of our business interests in this region, we believe we enjoy substantial advantages relative to other investors here.
Our investing is often opportunistic. That is, we typically do not seek out particular sectors or areas for investment but rather look for underserved and less competitive areas where we bring something other than capital to the table. Our focus is on value-oriented businesses and real estate. We seek assets that have been overlooked by other investors, with an eye toward adding professional management, enhanced marketing and product/service diversification. As a target, we expect to achieve a long term 10% annual return on our unleveraged investment.
Private Equity
We are very interested in purchasing smaller companies, or portions of larger companies, where the retiring owner has no succession plan. Excellent examples of such transactions are Laber’s Office Furniture and Red Barron Flooring, both of which are in Hagerstown. In both cases, the owner was ready to retire, had no heir and wanted the business to remain in tact. We improved their locations, increased their inventory, expanded their marketing, and preserved the founder’s legacy.
Venture Capital
When we find an underserved market, we will create a new business to capitalize on this vacuum. A good example of such a venture is Security Trust Company, which we created in 2005 when we found that very few financial custodians were interested in holding title to the non-traditional assets of self-directed retirement plans. STC has grown over the past few years to become the national industry leader in providing high-touch administrative services to the beneficiaries of such plans.
Commercial Real Estate
While we occasionally build new commercial structures (such as the Frederick SportsPlex), nearly all of our buildings are large, empty and old when we purchase them. Given their low initial cost, these buildings provide excellent upside if we are able to lease them after making the required infrastructure improvements. Space in one of our renovated buildings typically leases at a discount of 30% or more from prevailing commercial market rates.
Please review the information on our web site, which we have tried to make informative and transparent. And then contact us if you believe that your interests are compatible with ours.
Featured Project
