has raised $330m (鈧�291m) for its US Strategic Industrial Fund I, giving it $1bn of leveraged buying power to acquire and develop bulk and light industrial assets.
The fund will focus on well located properties in top industrial markets, including last-mile locations that are central to e-commerce supply chains.
Brad Simpkins, portfolio manager for the fund, said: 鈥淲hile the traditional port-driven warehouse markets continue to grow at a consistent pace, online commerce is accelerating demand for state-of-the-art facilities that can facilitate same-day and one-hour deliveries in major metropolitan areas across the US.
鈥淎 supply shortfall in these facilities coupled with healthy economic growth has generated significant pent-up demand for these industrial properties.鈥�
TH Real Estate, an affiliate of Nuveen, has been investing in the industrial sector since 1953 and today manages approximately $11.2bn of industrial properties globally.
Graydon Bouchillon, head of US industrial at TH Real Estate, said: 鈥淚nvestor interest in this asset class remains strong, reflecting the opportunities created by a growing economy and a supply shortage that keeps vacancy rates low and rents high.
鈥淭he fund attracted a wide range of interest from sophisticated institutional investors, individuals and financial advisers, reflecting broad-based interested in our diversified investment strategy.鈥�
The fund has already acquired four US assets, including 301 Business Center, an 863,000sqft development project in Tampa, Florida, and Empire Business Park, which consists of two multi-tenant business parks encompassing 212,626sqft of space, located in Southern California鈥檚 Inland Empire.
The other two assets are Serrano Business Park, a development consisting of three facilities totaling 327,080 sqft, also in Inland Empire, and 8575 Volta Drive, a 168,425sqft industrial warehouse in Houston, Texas.
According to TH Real Estate鈥檚 THINK US Cities: 2019 Outlook, the firm forecasts rental growth in the industrial sector to continue to outperform other sectors in 2019 as supply remains constrained.
