Azora Capital has launched a new closed-ended fund to channel Spanish capital into its US multifamily fund.

The investment manager has launched Azora Multifamily SICC in Spain to raise capital to invest in ONE Azora Exan Multifamily Fund I.

As reported in June last year, Azora’s newly created US real estate investment arm partnered with One Real Estate Investments to launch the US multifamily fund and raise up to $250m (€228m) in the next 15 months to target underinvested and undermanaged assets in the Sunbelt states. Including leverage, the fund will have the $650m total investment capacity.

In its latest update, Azora said the US fund had held a second closing and had acquired its fourth asset – the Elite Crossing, a 210-home garden-style property in Decatur, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia.

The US multifamily fund has so far invested over $170m and manages more than 1,000 market-rent multifamily units.

Fernando Pérez-Hickman, senior partner and head of Azora America, said: “With this new investment vehicle, Azora proves once again to be a pioneer in fund structuring after creating the first-ever closed-ended type collective company to channel Spanish investment into the US.”

Javier Rodríguez Heredia, senior partner and head of real estate, said: “The creation of this new investment vehicle underlines our investors’ trust and recognition of Azora as a market leader alongside our ability to leverage our strong track record and vast expertise across the residential sector in Europe to execute on our value-add multifamily strategy in the US.”

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