Ares Management closes $1B national real estate fund

Ares Management closed a $1.04 billion real estate fund that targets multifamily, industrial and office properties across the country.

The Los Angeles-based alternative assets manager said its ninth U.S. Real Estate Fund is about 25 percent larger than the previous fund, which closed at $825 million in December 2014.

The ninth fund is about 50 percent committed, the company said in a statement. It has 12 investments across a portfolio of properties that include more than 4,300 multifamily units and 15.7 million square feet of industrial and office space.

Ares launched the fund last year. It targets deals requiring $50 million to $100 million in equity. A 12-property multifamily portfolio, purchased earlier this year from Cottonwood Residential for $440 million, spans Tennessee, Texas, Georgia and North and South Carolina.

Existing investors increased their commitments by an average of 65 percent. The latest fund also brought in 15 new investors. Investors from outside of the U.S. accounted for more than 50 percent of the total.

Ares has also been active in New York. Earlier this year, it purchased a 418-unit apartment complex in Westchester for $101 million.

In August, it was also in talks to sell its 50 percent interest in 799 Broadway in Manhattan to Columbia Property Trust. It was shopping the stake at a price that valued the project at $250 million.

Ares Real Estate Group manages public and private equity and debt strategies, with approximately $10.6 billion of assets under management.