New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYSCRF) has approved a $200m (€177.6m) commitment to an open-ended US industrial property fund managed by Black Creek Group.

The pension fund said it is backing the Black Creek Industrial Fund, a core to core-plus fund which invests in a mixture of existing properties and new development opportunities.

NYSCRF told IPE Real Assets that “the development aspect is the main differentiator between the Black Creek fund and the other industrial assets already in the NYSCRF portfolio.”

NYSCRF said the fund is expected to have up to 40% development in the first three years, and will then stabilise closer to 25% development long-term.

“The development component of the fund is expected to provide accretive returns compared to pure core industrial,” the pension fund said

The Black Creek fund will seek returns of 9% to 10.5%.

In November last year, IPE Real Assets reported that the fund had at the time raised $1bn. According to NYSCRF, the fund has now received $1.9bn worth of commitments.

NYSCRF, which has a 10% to 25% allocation target to industrial real estate said its commitment to the Black Creek fund will help to increase its 14% industrial portfolio “close to the mid/upper portion of the range”.

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