CHICAGO & LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Harrison Street, one of the leading investment management firms exclusively focused on alternative real assets, today announced the final close of its third European alternative real estate fund, Harrison Street European Property Partners III, SLP RAIF (“Fund III” or the “Fund”), which raised over €800 million of equity, including co-investment vehicles, from over 25 institutional investors around the globe.
Fund III is approximately 75% committed to date and includes a life sciences portfolio of over 2 million square feet, making Harrison Street one of the largest private real estate owners of life sciences assets in the UK. Additional Fund III investments include build-to-rent and student accommodation in the UK, Ireland and Spain.
Launched in 2015, Harrison Street’s European strategy encompasses alternative investments in student accommodation, build-to-rent residential, and life sciences real estate. The firm’s growing and diverse European team is based in London and includes over 40 dedicated professionals, comprising 14 nationalities speaking 17 languages. In this time, the firm has acquired or developed 70 assets, including over 18,000 student accommodation beds and 2,600 residential units, in partnership with 14 operating partners in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, and Spain. Additional investments in the near-term pipeline are anticipated to expand the firm’s footprint to the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy and Portugal.
Paul Bashir, Chief Executive Officer of Harrison Street Europe, said, “As a leader and first mover in European alternative real estate, Harrison Street has developed a diverse portfolio across our primary sectors and geographies by drawing on our world-class investment team, deep relationships, and global sector expertise. The successful closing of Harrison Street European Property Partners III, Harrison Street’s largest European-focused fund, amid the global pandemic, reflects the resiliency of our asset classes, the strength of our investment platform, and confidence placed in us by our global investors, both existing and new.”
Christopher Merrill, Harrison Street’s Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, added, “We are grateful for our investors’ strong support as we continue to execute on the significant opportunities in front of us and pursue consistent performance across the portfolio throughout market cycles. We have built an exceptional team on the ground in the UK and across continental Europe and are very focused bringing the full resources and expertise of the firm to realize the significant potential embedded in our pipeline in the coming years.”
Bashir concluded, “Our first alternative European fund, a 2015 vintage, is under contract to sell its remaining seven assets in the coming weeks, which will result in that fund being fully realized ahead of schedule and with projected returns well ahead of target. We believe this further demonstrates the attractive opportunity within our sectors of focus throughout Europe and the differentiated investment opportunities we offer our investors.”
During 2021, Harrison Street had its most active and diverse investment year on record including USD$15 billion of gross cost across 264 assets in demographic-driven alternative real estate as well as social and utility infrastructure throughout North America and Europe. The firm also received strong support from its global institutional investor base with over USD$5.8 billion of capital commitments raised across its strategies. Harrison Street continued to expand its platform with over 45 new hires and a new office in San Francisco. Additionally, the firm launched an ESG Investor Council and Harrison Street’s Network of Women dedicated to advancing ESG and DEI initiatives. In November 2021, the firm’s corporate offices in Chicago and London and employee-related emissions achieved net zero global greenhouse gas emissions.
About Harrison Street
Harrison Street is one of the leading investment management firms exclusively focused on alternative real assets. Since inception in 2005, the firm has created a series of differentiated investment solutions focused on demographic-driven, needs-based assets. The firm has invested across senior housing, student housing, healthcare delivery, life sciences and storage real estate as well as social and utility infrastructure. Headquartered in Chicago with offices in San Francisco, London and Toronto, the firm has more than 200-employees and approximately $44 billion in assets under management. Clients of the firm include a global institutional investor base domiciled in North America, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Latin America. Harrison Street was awarded Best Places to Work by Pensions & Investments for seven consecutive years (2014-2020) and was named 2020 Global Alternatives Investor of the Year by PERE. For more information, please visit www.harrisonst.com.
