GLOBAL - The Canadian pension fund CPP Investment Board (CPPIB) has acquired several real estate assets in the US as part of its plan to extend its portfolio in the country through joint ventures.

CPPIB first acquired a 40% interest in two prime multi-family properties, Archstone North Point - a 426-unit property in Massachusetts - and Archstone Woodland Park, a 392-unit property in Herndon, Virginia.

The deal was signed as part of a joint venture with Allianz and the real estate company Archstone.

The equity investment in those two properties is worth $108m (€79m). 

In addition, CPPIB and Archstone have formed a three-year development joint venture programme.

Moving to California, the Canadian pension plan has also acquired a 49% stake in Palazzo Westwood Village - a class-A, 350-unit property in Los Angeles - alongside the privately held real estate company Casden Property Company.

The fund has also completed the acquisition of a 45% interest in the Cadence multi-family development project in San Jose, for an equity investment of $92m in a joint venture with Essex Property Trust.

The project construction on the 569-unit class-A development is scheduled to start in September this year.

The last real estate asset is a 654-unit, multi-family development in downtown Seattle in which CPPIB has acquired a 44% stake for an equity investment of $84m.

CPPIB partnered up with Multi-Employer Property Trust (MEPT), an open-ended fund.

Peter Ballon, CPPIB's vice-president and head of real estate investments for the Americas, said: "We see US multi-family real estate investments as an attractive opportunity to build our portfolio in this sector over the coming years.

"Our multi-family strategy is to acquire or develop high-quality, long-term assets in core, high barrier to entry markets alongside experienced and best-in-class partners with aligned interests.

"The limited supply of high-quality rental properties and other broad demographic trends such as forecast population growth, declining home ownership and the echo-boom generation reaching peak rental propensity all support continued growth in the US multi-family sector."

In addition to the multi-family investments, CPPIB recently completed acquisitions of three prime office properties in Manhattan and Washington.

In Washington, CPPIB acquired a 45% interest in 1255 23rd Street, a 340,000 square foot class-A office property in a joint venture with locally based Carr Properties and MetLife Real Estate Investments.

The total purchase price was $138m, resulting in a $30m equity investment, net of debt, for CPPIB.

In Manhattan, the pension fund acquired a 32% stake in a joint venture owning two properties - the retail/office property 655 Fifth Avenue, which is 100% leased, and the office building 100 Broadway Avenue.

The joint venture was made alongside Meadow Partners and Madison Capital.

Ballon said: "All of the properties involved in these transactions are well positioned to deliver stable cash flows and retain their relative value across multiple business cycles.

"We will continue to pursue attractive real estate investment opportunities in key markets to expand our US real estate portfolio."

Earlier this year, CPPIB acquired a 36.9% interest in the Mayflower partnership alongside two other investors, the largest US retail REIT, Simon Property Group, and the institutional real estate owners Teachers Insurance and Annuity Associated.

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