Azora Capital’s newly created US real estate investment arm has partnered with One Real Estate Investments (OREI) to create a fund to invest over $650m (€559m) in value-add multifamily assets in the Sunbelt states.

Azora Exan and OREI have created the ONE Azora Exan Multifamily Fund I with a plan to raise up to $250m in the next 15 months to target underinvested and undermanaged multifamily assets. Including leverage, the fund will have a total investment capacity of over $650m.

The companies said the fund, which held its first closing at the end of April, has already invested $48m to buy The Fredd, a 278-unit multifamily community in San Antonio, Texas.

Fernando Perez-Hickman, a managing partner of Azora Exan and head of Azora America, said: “This fund is an important milestone in Azora’s strategic expansion in the US and we are very excited to launch it with OREI who brings a proven multifamily track record in the US Sunbelt.

“Market-rent residential is the backbone on which we built Azora in Europe, so it was only natural for us to kickstart our US venture with a focus on this sector, to which we can apply our 20+ years of expertise.”

Jeronimo Hirschfeld, president and CEO of One Real Estate Investment, said: “Having a strategic capital partner allows OREI to rapidly build upon our track record of over 10,000 multifamily units acquired in Texas and the Southeastern United States.”

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