Housing investor Greystar has raised US$450m in the first close of its China-focused housing fund, targeting Shanghai and other top-tier cities across the country.
The fund’s investors include Dutch firms APG Asset Management and Bouwinvest Real Estate Investors, as well as MIRA Real Estate, the property arm of Australian group Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets.
The fund is the first for Greystar’s Asia Pacific rental housing platform, which was established alongside MIRA Real Estate last year, according to an announcement.
The fund will now close on its first investment located in the inner ring of Shanghai, with plans to reposition the asset into a rental building that will be highly attractive to executives.
“China is an extraordinarily compelling growth market for rental housing investment today and is notably lacking in quality housing for the wave of renter demand driven by the rapid growth of urban market populations and incomes,” said Wes Fuller, leader of Greystar’s global investment management business.
Charles Ma, managing director for Greystar in China, said they were in the process of building a vertically integrated local team with specialists in development, investment and operations.
“Our investment strategy will allow us to develop a significant rental housing pipeline in China and grow our platform to realise the tremendous opportunity we see in the region,” Ma said.
APG, which has rented residential strategies in the US and Europe already, expects the sector to grow quickly into an institutional asset class throughout the Asia Pacific region, according to APG’s head of private real estate Asia-Pacific Graeme Torre.
Headquartered in the US, Greystar manages and operates an estimated $115bn of real estate globally.