Harrison Street’s social infrastructure fund has acquired a US district energy system from BlackRock.
The manager’s Social Infrastructure Fund (SIF) has paid an undisclosed sum to buy BlackRock’s Global Energy & Power Infrastructure Fund’s (GEPIF) interest in The Fort Detrick Energy Production Facility at US Army Garrison in Maryland.
The facility supplies steam, chilled water, electricity conditioning services and emergency backup power to US government facilities located at Fort Detrick under a 30-year fixed payment contract that expires in March 2049.
Christopher Merrill, Harrison Street’s co-founder, chairman and CEO, said this asset, Harrison Street’s first with a Federal Government contract counterparty, is reflective of the company’s commitment to investing in critical infrastructure assets.
“Harrison Street has long served as a top capital provider for leading health systems and higher education institutions and we are thrilled to be bringing our infrastructure investing expertise to the greater Fort Detrick community.”
Since 2018, SIF has committed approximately $530m in equity across 16 assets, including investments in wind, solar and hydroelectric power, innovation districts, sustainable buildings and district energy.
The acquisition of the Fort Detrick Energy Production Facility marks the second investment in district energy for SIF, following its acquisition in 2019 of CoolCo, a Cincinnati based district energy system which provides chilled water services to the Central Business District of downtown Cincinnati, Ohio.
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