NORTH AMERICA – The New York State Teachers Retirement System has placed $534.9m (€400m) of new commitments into real estate.

One of these was a $200m investment into the Brookfield DTLA Holdings limited partnership, with the pension fund citing the opportunity to invest in a portfolio of trophy assets in the Los Angeles central business district.

The total equity raise for this commingled fund, managed by Brookfield Office Properties, is $3bn.

The fund’s strategy is to own a portfolio of office building assets in downtown Los Angeles. 

Institutional partners will own 53% of the assets in the fund, while Brookfield will hold the remaining 47%.

Meanwhile, NYSTRS has approved a new commitment outside of the US, a $200m allocation to the Blackstone Real Estate Partners Asia commingled fund.

Investors in the $4bn commingled fund, managed by Blackstone Real Estate Partners, are expecting to achieve a 20% gross IRR on an annualised basis.

The investment fund will be looking to invest in large, complex transactions in Asia markets, including Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul and Mumbai, that other investors might not consider. 

NYSTRS also made a $100m commitment into the Exeter Industrial Value Fund III, which invests in industrial properties it can improve through renovation or expansion.

Exeter Property Group will look to buy industrial properties in a variety of markets including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta, South Florida and Baltimore/Washington, DC.

NYSTRS last new commitment to real estate was $34.9m into the Lone Star Real Estate Fund III, a global distressed fund.