"This has been a watershed year for JER," says the JE Robert Cos. chairman and CEO Joseph E. Robert Jr. "We are strategically positioned to capitalize on growing investment opportunities worldwide."

Among the eight investment deals, valued at $190 million, that JER Fund III has already put to bed is its provision of $32 million in mezzanine financing for Republic Square, an office development in the city's Capitol Hill area that will yield two class A office buildings totaling nearly 600,000 sf. Another fund venture involved the $30-million acquisition of the 309-room Hilton Ontario Airport Hotel in Southern California's Inland Empire region, just outside of Los Angeles. Additionally, JER Fund III acquired $62 million of non-conduit commercial mortgage-backed securities.

"JER's goal is to continue to generate highly attractive, risk-adjusted returns for our investors and business partners through strategies that identify and unlock hidden or latent value across a variety of property types," JER Partners president and chief investment officer Deborah L. Harmon explains. "We are committed to assembling a diversified portfolio of value-oriented investments including office, retail, multifamily and industrial properties, complemented by selective and opportunistic investments in CMBS, hospitality and healthcare related real estate."