Harrison Street wraps up second European fund

Harrison Street, a real estate investment firm focused on the education, healthcare and storage sectors, has closed its second European fund, at 700 million euros. The target was 400 million euros. Harrison Street European Property Partners II LP will focus on the student accommodation market in the UK, Germany, Ireland, France, Spain, the Netherlands and the Nordics. The fund will also target specialty residential properties.

PRESS RELEASE

CHICAGO & LONDON – May 1, 2019 — Harrison Street, one of the largest alternative real asset investment firms dedicated to the Education, Healthcare and Storage sectors, today announced the final close of its second European closed-end fund, Harrison Street European Property Partners II, L.P. (“Fund II”), at €500 million in equity commitments, in excess of its target of €400 million. Harrison Street also raised an additional €200 million of equity capital in a co-investment vehicle. This equity capital provides over €2 billion in buying power. Fund II and the co-investment vehicle were over-subscribed.

Fund II’s strategy is consistent with the predecessor fund’s investment approach to provide innovative and flexible capital solutions to the student accommodation market in the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, France, Spain, the Netherlands and the Nordics. Fund II also targets investments in specialty residential properties, including micro-living and private rental units, which exhibit similar demand drivers and demographic characteristics to the European student housing sector. To date, Fund II has committed more than €400 million in equity across 24 assets in Europe.

Fund II received strong backing from existing Harrison Street investors and welcomed a number of new investors from across the globe.

Rob Mathias, Senior Managing Director and Head of International at Harrison Street, stated: “Harrison Street entered the European market in 2015 to address a clear and unmet need as cities with large student populations were unable to keep up with the demand for high-quality purpose-built student housing. In that time, Harrison Street has developed a robust pipeline of opportunities, committed to investments totaling approximately €1.2 billion in gross asset value and established itself as a partner of choice for the leading developers and managers of student housing as well as specialty residential properties across Europe. Looking ahead, supply remains constrained and we will continue to build scale and deepen our relationships with leading universities and development partners to address the growing need for high-quality accommodations among underserved populations.”

Christopher Merrill, Harrison Street’s Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said: “I am pleased with the support we have received from new and existing investors. In a short period of time, we have built a strong and sustainable European platform and a world-class team, comprised of experienced professionals and operating partners, that have created differentiated investment opportunities for our investors. Harrison Street is a pioneer and first mover in demographic-driven, needs-based real estate investing and has generated exceptional risk-adjusted performance across cycles. We look forward to expanding our European presence for the benefit of our clients and partners alike.”

Fund II is the successor fund to Harrison Street European Property Partners L.P. (“Fund I”), which completed fundraising in May 2015 with €235 million in capital commitments. Fund I is fully committed to investments and has already returned more than 44% of its capital to investors. Harrison Street currently manages 15,000 student housing beds in Europe, and since inception in 2005 has invested more than $11.6 billion in nearly 150,000 student beds with 145 universities across the U.S. and Europe.

About Harrison Street
Harrison Street is one of the leading investment management firms exclusively focused on alternative real assets. The firm has created a series of defensive, differentiated investment solutions focused on the Education, Healthcare and Storage sectors. Headquartered in Chicago with an office in London, the firm has more than 140 employees and approximately $18.3 billion in assets under management. Clients of the firm include a global institutional investor base from 11 countries. For more information, please visit www.harrisonst.com.