NEW YORK CITY—“We fundamentally focus on themes that have really strong drivers for demand,” Ralph Rosenberg, global head of real estate at KKR, said in a Bloomberg News interview Wednesday. “So right now we're really focused on all the housing themes—seniors housing, student housing, multifamily housing—alongside the theme of looking at the Sunbelt states and the migration of population to the major cities in the South, where there's low tax jurisdiction and, obviously, great weather.”

Rosenberg made his comments as KKR announced the final close on its KKR Real Estate Partners Americas II, the successor to a value-add and opportunistic vehicle which completed fundraising in December 2013. At $2 billion, REPA II exceeds the size of REPA I as well as KKR's initial target for the newer fund.

REPA II includes approximately $230 million of capital from KKR's balance sheet and employee commitments. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that KKR has already committed or spent about $250 million of the new fund, which drew on both new and existing investors globally, including public pensions, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, financial institutions, foundations, endowments, family offices and high net worth individuals.