Terra Carta Partners is the Real Estate arm of the Ritchie Family Office. Joe Ritchie founded Chicago Research and Trade in 1977. CRT was sold to NationsBank in 1992 for over $300M. Later that year, NationsBank acquired Bank of America and retained the Bank of America name.
The next generation, led by Thane Ritchie, established Ritchie Capital Markets in 1994 and then Ritchie Capital Management in 1997. Ritchie Capital Management grew its asset base to almost $4 billion. After the financial crisis in 2008, the hedge fund unwound most of its positions and returned to being a family office.
Terra Carta’s first significant transaction was in 2014 when it acquired 47,000 acres in Western Colorado from Shell Oil for gas, oil and water rights. Today a 150-megawatt solar farm is on the property as well. In addition to smaller projects in Madison, Wisconsin, and the Greater Chicago area, Terra Carta Partners is currently working on a 340-acre mixed use development outside of Austin, Texas.