UNITED STATES - Rockpoint Group LLC has added a new regional office with the opening up of a New York City venture on Park Avenue.

Kathryn Corro, a principal with the firm, is heading up the new office, having previously worked at Rockpoint's San Francisco operation.

The firm also has offices in Boston and Dallas but Rockpoint has found around 50% of its capital is invested is in the Northeast and regions of the United States so the new regional office in the Big Apple is expected to help with the management of these assets.

The real estate manager currently has strong relationships with many big pension funds based in the vicinity of New York City, including the New York State Teachers Retirement System (NYSTRS), New York Common Retirement Fund and Pennsylvania State Employees Retirement System so having an office in New York should allow the managers to get meet on a more regular basis.

Rockpoint is now trying to place the $2.5bn (€1.6bn) in capital it recently raised for its latest commingled fund - the Rockpoint Real Estate Fund III - and it is anticipated at least some of the capital will be invested close to its office in New York.

That said, Fund III is a global opportunity fund so just 60% of the capital will be invested in the US, while remaining assets will be invested in developed markets such as Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Rockpoint is unlikely to be in a hurry to invest the capital as officials are fully aware of the difficulties now faced in the pricing of assets as well as questioning what kind of impact the status of the US economy might have on future real estate deals.

Officials believe it might now be better to wait until later in the year or early 2009 to see how the market shakes out before signing any fresh deals.

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