Sanctioned Russian oligarch invested in an off-campus apartment complex for Louisiana State University students

• Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg invested in an apartment complex for LSU students in Baton Rouge, Bloomberg reported.
• Vekselberg was among several Russian oligarchs who were impacted by US sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• Earlier this week, the US seized “Tango,” a $90 million yacht belonging to Vekselberg docked in Spain.

A US sanctioned Russian oligarch has a stake in an off-campus apartment complex for Louisiana State University students, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

For more than five years, mortgage reports showed that billionaire businessman Viktor Vekselberg invested part of his $16.6 billion fortune in Arlington Cottages and Townhomes in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, according to Bloomberg.

Built in 2016, the Arlington Cottages were financed in part by a $44.1 million loan, which was placed on a watchlist for risk of default due to Vekselberg’s involvement in 2018, the outlet reported. The owners of the complex later obtained a special operating license from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, according to Bloomberg.

Hilary Marshall, a spokesperson for the investment firm Coastal Ridge Real Estate Partners, which oversees the complex, told Bloomberg that Vekselberg is “indirectly a minority investor in this property.”

“The investment occurred in 2016, well before sanctions were levied,” Marshall said, adding that Vekselberg’s involvement in the apartment complex was facilitated by investment firm Bracken Capital, which previously worked with his company Renova Group.

The spokesperson added that the real estate investment firm “is actively working to exit this investment in the near term,” and is working with OFAC to comply with sanctions-related laws and regulations, per the report.

Vekselberg is among the number of Russian oligarchs impacted by US sanctions following the country’s invasion of Ukraine in February. The billionaire was previously sanctioned in 2018.

Earlier this week, “Tango,” a $90 million yacht belonging to Vekselberg docked in Spain, was the first vessel to be seized by the US in the wake of the sanctions.