Tishman Speyer and Bouwinvest Real Estate Investors have announced the launch of a separately managed account (SMA) for institutional office investments in the United States. As its first acquisition, the investment vehicle secured a 150-year ground lease on the Chrysler Building in New York City alongside institutional partners. The transaction closed earlier this month.
The joint investment programme targets high-quality office properties in US locations characterised by solid fundamentals, sustained occupier demand and limited new construction volume. Strategically, the partners are focusing on core-plus and value-add opportunities. The mandate can operate alongside other office-focused Tishman Speyer vehicles as well as like-minded institutional investors.
Focus on gateway cities and value creation potential
The initiative forms part of an investor group led by Tishman Speyer for the US office sector. This platform holds around 700 million US dollars in equity, representing a transaction volume of approximately 1.5 billion US dollars. Geographically, the focus is on established US growth regions alongside traditional gateway markets:
- —New York City
- —Boston
- —Chicago
- —San Francisco
Nate Shanok, Senior Managing Director at Tishman Speyer, emphasised the expansion of the partnership with Bouwinvest. Both firms see attractive conditions for acquiring prime properties and tailoring them specifically to modern occupier requirements. Robert Wagenaar, Director North American Investments at Bouwinvest, described the Chrysler Building as a fitting initial investment, noting that it reflects their selective international approach of acting early in the market cycle with specialised partners. Wagenaar also highlighted the brown-to-green approach, which centres on the environmental and qualitative transformation of existing assets.
Expansion of the institutional partnership
As a real estate investment manager, Bouwinvest oversees investments for more than 35 institutional clients. The company originated from the Dutch construction industry pension fund bpfBOUW, which continues to act as its largest client and shareholder. The firm has outperformed its global benchmark across various time periods and was recognised at the IPE Real Estate Global Awards in the categories Best Global Indirect Strategy and Best Global Listed Strategy.
The US office venture deepens an already established collaboration between the two companies. Recently, Bouwinvest participated in the first closing of Tishman Speyer's approximately 400 million US dollar Korea Living Venture, which targets the acquisition, repositioning and development of residential properties and multi-family housing in Seoul.
