Harrison Street’s second European property fund has raised €700m at close, the manager said.

Harrison Street European Property Partners II received €500m in equity commitments, exceeding its €400m target and also raised an additional €200m of equity capital in a co-investment vehicle.

The total amount raised provides over €2bn of investment firepower, the company said.

The predecessor fund raised €235m in May 2015.

Harrison Street said Fund II, which was launched last year, received backing from existing Harrison Street investors and welcomed a number of new investors from across the globe.

As previously reported the fund received a €51m contribution from Texas Permanent School Fund.

Fund II focuses on acquisitions and developments in the student accommodation and speciality residential sectors throughout Europe. To date, the fund has committed more than €400m in equity across 24 assets in Europe.

Rob Mathias, senior managing director and head of international at Harrison Street, said: “Harrison Street entered the European market in 2015 to address a clear and unmet need as cities with large student populations were unable to keep up with the demand for high-quality purpose-built student housing.”

In that time, Harrison Street has developed a robust pipeline of opportunities, committed to investments totalling approximately €1.2bn in gross asset value.

“Looking ahead, supply remains constrained and we will continue to build scale and deepen our relationships with leading universities and development partners to address the growing need for high-quality accommodations among underserved populations,” Mathias said.

Christopher Merrill, Harrison Street’s co-founder, chairman and CEO, said: “In a short period of time, we have built a strong and sustainable European platform and a world-class team, comprised of experienced professionals and operating partners, that have created differentiated investment opportunities for our investors.