Greenland is getting hot.
It’s not just a new frontier of the resurgent American empire, but an opportunity for the adventurous real estate investor to redefine what “opportunistic” investing really means. Greenland is not only terra incognita for most Americans—it’s a potential bonanza for real estate entrepreneurs.
Today’s letter will explore Greenland’s potential as a real estate market by profiling a new real estate investment firm, Terra Boreale Ventures, which seeks to capitalise on these opportunities by sponsoring real estate projects at the fringes of American adventurism, embodying Baron Rothschild’s quote to the fullest: “Buy when there’s blood in the streets, even if the blood is your own.”
Today’s letter will cover:
- The opportunity in the growing American empire
- A deep dive into Terra Boreale Ventures
- The case for Greenland
- Impact on the future of real estate
Betting on growth
The car opened the suburbs.
E-commerce enabled the logistics boom.
AI took data centres to the next level.
Today, resurgent American adventurism and the collapse of the post-WWII international order are opening entirely new markets to eager real estate investors and developers.
While normal, “boring” real estate investment strategies can offer steady income and incremental returns, the biggest real estate fortunes are made by betting on where the pucks—or in this case, gunboats—are headed. From Panama to Gaza to Greenland, American investors are increasingly seeing dollars.
The strategy of betting on American imperial ambition has been buoyed by statements from the highest levels of government. Vice President JD Vance, for example, paid a visit to Greenland just last week. “It’s cold as shit here,” he told an assembled crowd of US soldiers at Pituffik Space Base.
And the administration’s ambitions extend beyond the arctic. “Think about it as a big real estate site,” President Donald Trump said in reference to Gaza in a 9th February interview. “The United States is going to own it […] and we’re going to develop it.”
Naturally, these plans have piqued the interest of real estate investors weary of Sunbelt value-add multifamily and Class B industrial. While ambitious new city projects in the metropole languish—burdened with red tape and NIMBYism—investors are increasingly looking at the prospect of new territory unencumbered by traditional constraints.
“There’s growing investor interest in these new markets,” said Paul Stanton, partner at PTB and regular Thesis Driven contributor. “With rates remaining elevated, investors are increasingly looking at niches and differentiated strategies to drive returns. And I guess you could call this a niche.”
The origins of Terra Boreale
While Terra Boreale isn’t alone in pursuing deals on America’s new frontier, it’s perhaps the sponsor best-positioned to win opportunities—and institutional capital.
Terra Boreale Managing Director Diego von Wernher cut his teeth early in his career managing his family’s ranch outside Bariloche, Argentina. “Running our ranch—which our family has owned for almost 80 years—really taught me how to make something out of nothing,” explains von Wernher. “It was the perfect training to do real estate deals in a new, completely empty land.”
While Terra Boreale is von Wernher’s brainchild, he isn’t alone in the effort. Sir Mark Thatcher, Margaret Thatcher’s son and the architect of a failed 2004 coup in Equatorial Guinea, joined von Wernher as a partner late last year. And in January they brought on Austin Ward, Vice President JD Vance’s third cousin and former intern at the Daily Wire.
“There are so many opportunities out there right now, it’s hard to pick just one,” said von Wernher. “Canada’s the big play, obviously. But that might take until 2026. So, we had to look at the options that will be available this year—specifically Greenland, Panama, and Gaza.”
“Unfortunately, Gaza’s a little too hot right now for most institutional [investors],” continued von Wernher. “Even Fortress wasn’t willing to touch it. So, we decided to go somewhere the opposite of hot: Greenland.”
Terra Nullis: Greenland
At first glance, Greenland doesn’t seem to be prime real estate. It’s blisteringly cold—with average summer temperatures barely exceeding 40 degrees Fahrenheit—and offers limited to no sunlight during the winter.
But von Wernher isn’t deterred.
“There is incredible upside in a place like Greenland,” he said. “If people are willing to live in frigid, crime-ridden hellholes like Chicago, they’ll jump at the chance to come to Ittoqqortoormiit or Ikerasaarsuk.”
“Greenland is neither claimed nor owned by any country today,” explained Brad Tannen, partner at American Ebullience Partners, a multi-stage venture firm investing in American dynamism. “The lack of existing territorial claims or human presence makes Terra Boreale’s plans particularly appealing: a true terra nullis of real estate opportunity.”
“Greenland: no people, all opportunity—that’s what I like to say,” said von Wernher. Terra Boreale’s first project, the Mar-a-Hielo, is a hotel and membership club inspired by a similar model in West Palm Beach, Florida. “The Mar-a-Hielo will sit on the perfect site where the ocean meets the ice cap,” explained von Wernher. “There are beautiful rock outcroppings and ice—a lot of ice. It’ll be a great anchor for our plans.”
Von Wernher hopes that Mar-a-Hielo will get the new territory off on the right foot by attracting “the right kind of people.”
“We’re looking to bring real entrepreneurs and builders—people like Trevor Milton and Andrew Tate.”
A question of (asset) class
Given Terra Boreale’s market-focused thesis, the firm is exploring a variety of asset classes and uses for its new territory.
“Single-family homes—on big lots, with big garages—is an essential part of our strategy,” explained von Wernher. “It’s cultural as much as anything, us putting our mark on this new land. The single-family home with a three-car garage is to American culture what the igloo is to the Eskimos, you could say.”
Von Wernher claims to have commitments from “several large homebuilders” for sites at The Plantations at Qeqertarsuatsiaat, Terra Boreale’s first master-planned development. “We took inspiration from gated community developments throughout the southern United States,” von Wernher continued. “The design is all about luxury and exclusivity. In the US it’s about keeping out the wrong kind of people, you know? But here we have polar bears, which are almost the same thing.”
And just as many multifamily developers began referring to tenants as “residents” and buildings as “communities” in recent decades, Terra Boreale is pioneering its own vernacular: incoming visitors and residents will be referred to as “settlers” and new developments “colonies.”
“We really want language that conveys the spirit of our project. Absolute freedom on the New American Frontier—why settle for less?” said von Wernher. Terra Boreale also seeks to take advantage of the cold climate in some unique ways. They’ve partnered with crypto startup BitConnect and the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) to build a multi-billion dollar crypto mining hub and data centtre on the ice cap. “Being on the ice will dramatically lower our cooling bill. Our energy costs will be so low we’ll have to rig our maintenance trucks to roll coal just to make sure we’re not net zero or anything woke like that.”
Terra Boreale’s rendering of its proposed data center and crypto mine. The firm apologized profusely for the windmills, stating Midjourney refused to take them out
Of course, von Wernher and Terra Boreale aren’t alone; competition is on the horizon. Dryden Brown, founder of network state startup Praxis, flew to Greenland last November in an attempt to purchase the island outright. “We welcome all builders inspired by the New American Frontier,” added von Wernher. “I know others have joined the hunt, and I suppose imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”
But Terra Boreale team isn’t swinging hammers quite yet; von Wernher noted that they have a few “administrative matters” to work out “over the next couple months” before construction can begin in earnest.
In the meantime, von Wernher is organizing pop-up events to build buzz and excitement around the new development. “Over the next month we’re hosting a gathering of Elon Musk fans out on the ice cap,” said Wernher. “They’re pretending they’re building a new civilization on Mars. SpaceX is sponsoring.” As key member of the Trump administration, Elon Musk’s support will be essential for Terra Boreale to secure entitlements in the new territory, making the pop-up event a natural partnership.
“It’s kind of a LARP. But a good one, you know?”
—Brad Hargreaves
This letter is satire—at least for now. Happy (belated) April Fool’s Day!
This article was originally published by Thesis Driven.
