ARI | History

The Principals of ARI entered North America in the early 1970s, holding an initial office in Toronto, Canada. Later, the Group opened its first U.S. office in Houston, Texas in 1977. By the mid-1980s, the value of North American investments had grown to over two-billion dollars through real estate investments in major cities throughout the United States and Canada. At this time, the majority of the holdings were sold in one large transaction to a Canadian public company. The Group’s remaining assets were concentrated towards larger office buildings in the United States.

In 1988, the Group began to purchase assets in Texas. By May of 1989, a new company was formed to follow these investments and seek additional investment opportunities in the state. The company quickly grew from fifteen employees in 1989 to 150 employees only a few years later. The portfolio also grew, totaling to be more than five-thousand apartment units and more than 2.2 million square feet of office space and retail.

In 1998, the company sold a large portion of its Houston office portfolio to a real estate investment trust. Then, in 2002, the Group sold the majority of its apartment properties to a Swiss bank syndicate, and remains the operating and general partner of this foreign-investment vehicle.

The Group remains active in seeking investment and management opportunities throughout the United States. The company is a full-service real estate company offering investment consulting, property management, loan brokerage, and real estate brokerage through various divisions and subsidiaries of the Group.