GLOBAL - Invesco Real Estate has made its first acquisitions in the US for German institutional investors in its MEAG US Immobilien Fonds IV.

The fund manager bought a retail unit in New York City and a logistics property in Dallas on behalf of the fund dedicated to German-speaking institutional investors, for which it raised $120m (€90.7m) at the beginning of the year.

In New York, Invesco has acquired a 19,763 square foot retail unit on Broadway in Soho, one of the city's most sought-after and upscale retail locations.

The property, which was purchased for $55m, consists of the ground floor and first floor, and is let on a 15-year lease to UK retail chain All Saints.

In its first acquisition at the end of August, Invesco purchased a logistics property at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport for $15.35m.

The 202,140 square foot building is let to DB Schenker - a global airfreight operator and a fully owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn - on a long-term lease.

Invesco said the high initial yield and positive outlook for the local logistics industry were the key drivers of the acquisition.

Fund manager Steffen Pilopp said: "With positive growth rates since the beginning of 2010, the US is overcoming one of the worst financial crises in several decades.

"Following capital losses of more than 30%, real estate prices in major US locations have stabilised again over the past few quarters and are showing initial signs of capital value growth.

"In New York, in particular, the impact of the crisis is not as severe as initially expected."

Pilopp said the local economy was growing at surprisingly high rates, but that Invesco was assuming a cautious approach because not all market segments had stabilised sufficiently.

"However," he added, "the acquisition of these two properties on long leases provides [the fund] with a sufficiently stable foundation."

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