REAL ESTATE - The Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund has bought a 232-unit apartment complex in California for $36.7m (€28.5m).

It’s bought Redwood Creek Apartments in Rohnert Park via its real estate manager, General Investment and Development.

Oregon PERF liked the community that the property is located in. Its Real Estate Investment Officer Brad Child said, “We think that the Northern California market is a growing and stable market and we felt good about the future of this market.”

This deal is considered a core property. It was committed to prior to the start of construction in a pre-sale arrangement. This is an investment structure that many pension funds have employed around the country for buying apartments. This is a way for many investors to tie up properties well before they are completed.

The deal was first negotiated back in 2003 by Greystar. At the time, this firm was the core apartment manager for Oregon PERF. In August of 2004, Greystar resigned from its relationship with the pension fund. The real estate manager wanted to pursue a strategy using more leverage. Oregon PERF was more interested in using low amounts of leverage, around 30%. One month later, the pension fund hired General Investment and Development to take over the account.