CHICAGO—90 North Real Estate Partners, a London-based, international real estate investment firm, has just expanded into North America by opening a Chicago office and appointing Daniel T. Cooper, a 25-year real estate veteran, to run it. Company officials say they plan to invest $750 million, mostly in the US, during the next 18 to 24 months.
“Our clients want and need real estate in the US,” Nicholas Judd, a founder, partner and head of investment, tells GlobeSt.com. The company has a lot of investors from the Middle East and “they are hunting for yield.” 90 North was started in London in 2011 and has made about $750 million in investments buying office, industrial, senior living, and student housing properties throughout the UK. “Our clients are very keen on the US and UK economies.”
Both Judd and Cooper say locating the North American office in Chicago was a natural choice. Judd, for example, says Chicago's access to banking and finance is as good as New York's. And Chicago's central location gives it quicker access to most US cities, an important consideration for a company building a national portfolio. “When we looked at all of the variables,” Cooper says, “Chicago came up number one.”
To generate the needed yields, says Cooper, 90 North will focus primarily on up and coming secondary markets such as Denver, Raleigh, Orlando and Chicago, and stay away from the coastal markets like New York and San Francisco, among others, that usually guarantee smaller returns.
But investors are not just looking for a quick buck. “The initial investment horizon we work with is three to five years,” says Judd, during which the firm plans to create value in its properties before looking for buyers. However, the firm could also decide to hold onto its properties for longer. In the UK, for example, it has now had its properties for about two years, but instead of selling, many investors have floated the possibility of just refinancing. “It could be that we hold onto these assets for the income.”
The company will continue to target investments valued from $40 million to $100 million. Judd says that 90 North is “agnostic” on what type of properties to it will buy, and could make purchases in the office, industrial, medical/healthcare, student housing and related sectors. 90 North could also decide to fund new development, but this has not been decided.
However, he adds that the company also considers itself a socially-responsible investor. “We will not invest in buildings that are let to defense companies or alcohol producers,” or host other activities, such as gambling, they believe have a negative impact on society.
Cooper has commercial real estate investment and operations experience across a wide range of property sectors. He most recently was managing director, fund management, for the $1.8 billion HSBC Amanah Global Properties Income Fund. He was also the director of portfolio management for Principal America Office's $1.1 billion portfolio of US trophy assets.
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
