Link to Deal:
https://passivepockets.com/directory/deals/aspen-industrial-growth-fund/
This Episode
Aspen Funds’ Ben Fraser and Ellis Hammond return to PassivePockets for an exclusive LP Deal Review on their Industrial Growth Fund—an industrial land + development strategy concentrated in Kansas City’s “Golden Triangle” submarket. Chris, along with LP panelists Pascal Wagner and Christy Burakovsky, breaks down the thesis behind the fund: why Kansas City is positioned as a major industrial “supernode,” how onshoring and supply chain reshoring supports long-term demand, and why Aspen is focusing on smaller-bay industrial where vacancy has remained structurally tight.
The discussion digs into how value is created before a building ever goes vertical, buying raw land, pushing it through entitlements, securing meaningful tax abatements, and turning it into shovel-ready inventory in a supply-constrained corridor. From there, Aspen has multiple paths to realize gains: sell parcels to owner-users and developers at a premium, develop spec/build-to-suit projects themselves, and/or structure JV partnerships where the fund contributes land into projects.
The LP panel also pushes hard on the questions that matter to passive investors: how timelines and exits actually work in a multi-asset land fund, what “lumpy” distributions look like vs steady yield, how the cumulative preferred return accrues, and what happens if market conditions delay sales. Finally, Aspen outlines special PassivePockets terms, lower minimums and improved economics if the community hits a group investment threshold.
Key Takeaways
- Why Aspen is concentrating in Kansas City’s “Golden Triangle” and what makes the submarket supply-constrained
- How industrial tailwinds (onshoring/reshoring + logistics corridors) support long-term demand in KC
- The value creation stack: raw land → entitlements/tax abatements → shovel-ready uplift → land sales and/or vertical development
- Fund cash flow realities: event-driven distributions (land sales/refis/sales), not consistent monthly income
- PassivePockets community terms: lower minimum and improved pref/split if the group minimum is reached, plus a cumulative preferred return structure
Disclaimer
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