REAL ESTATE – Mike McCook, senior real estate investment officer at the $183bn (euro) California Public Employees’ Retirement Scheme, is to retire.

An official at the Sacramento-based fund told IPE Real Estate that McCook is to retire from State service.

Earlier this month McCook was in the news, when he disclosed the fund was looking to invest up to $400m in Chinese housing over the next few years.

In the meantime, the fund has announced almost $200m in real estate purchases, in Washington State and Texas.

It invested $109.8m in the 41-acre, WestPark office-warehouse complex in Redmond east of Seattle. This is 70% leased, with 80 tenants.

And it has also bought Estates at Cougar Mountain for $46.3m.

The fund also purchased an office property in Houston’s central business district for $41.7m.