It looks like sovereign wealth funds — which are made up of pools of money derived from a country’s reserve — are slowly returning to invest in commercial real estate in the United States.
Since the economic crisis of 2008, SWFs had decreased their investments in commercial real estate by at least 20 percent.
But the amount of money they’re investing now is substantial. By 2012, SWFs are expected to have $12 trillion in assets under management.
In one deal last month, the Qatari Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund for the tiny Middle East nation of Qatar, emerged as the backer for the largest downtown development under construction in the U.S. — a 10-acre project in Washington, D.C., called CityCenterDC, which broke ground in the first week of April.
The Qataris are providing 100 percent equity financing for the $700 million project for the developers: Texas-based Hines Interest, and the Colorado-based residential investor and operator, Archstone. The anchor investor in the mixed-used project is Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, the real estate investment arm of the QIA.
The D.C. project is part of a trend.
In March, the International Council of Shopping Centers reported that SWFs have returned to real estate.
Moreover, it’s clear that at least some of that investment money is flowing into New York City.
TIAA-CREF, a financial services company and a provider of retirement benefits, recently announced a $71 billion fund with the Future Fund, an investment arm of Australia’s SWF.
TIAA sold an approximately 49 percent stake in 685 Third Avenue — a 33-story, 600,000-square-foot office building on Third Avenue between 43rd and 44th Street — to the Future Fund that, according to a news release, was worth roughly $100 million. TIAA-CREF had bought the building last year for $190 million from Pfizer. Currently vacant, the building is undergoing renovations.
In a statement, TIAA-CREF and the Future Fund said they planned to pursue more real estate opportunities over the next two years, targeting “core and core-plus assets located in the central business districts and Class A suburban regions of primary metropolitan areas in the U.S.”
Furthermore, SWFs may be diving into real estate even more than it seems on the surface. That’s because most transactions have not been done by highly visible direct acquisitions, but through equity funds or other financing vehicles.
For example, in February, NYSE, Jeffries Group and the Government of Singapore Investments Corporation (GIC), that country’s sovereign wealth fund, announced that through affiliates, they and LoanCore LLC, led by commercial real estate veteran Mark Finerman, have formed Jeffries LoanCore LLC, a new joint-venture commercial real estate finance company with $600 million in initial equity commitments. The new company will originate commercial real estate debt.
A month before that, Bloomberg News reported that China Investment Corp., a $322 billion sovereign wealth fund, was stepping up its U.S. real estate investment by helping to refinance 650 Madison Avenue, an office tower. CIC joined forces with AREA Real Estate Finance Corp. to buy an unspecified preferred equity stake in the 27-story building, which is headquarters to Polo Ralph Lauren.
CIC also owns 35 percent of the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. — allowing it to participate in transactions through underwriting rather than just through equity investments. A CIC subsidiary also holds a controlling stake in Beijing’s Bank of China Ltd., which agreed in November to provide an $800 million mortgage on the office building at 245 Park Avenue.
In November 2010, CIC also acquired a 7.6 percent stake in General Growth Properties through a fund manager that participated in the bankruptcy reorganization for the mega-mall owner.
Still, despite the uptick in acquisitions by SWFs in the states, most continue to be more interested in Europe.
But that hasn’t stopped Americans from trying to lure them in.
Indeed, the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, an organization that studies SWFs, reported that the U.S. government is wooing sovereign wealth funds, which are generally interested in low-risk, cash-generating assets.
Investment in public infrastructure by foreign investors has been in the news headlines for months. Recently, a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority invested in Chicago’s parking meters.
Meanwhile, state governments are trying to market their bonds to foreign institutional investors. Experts say that those states that can reduce pension liabilities, put realistic reforms in place, and increase revenues via taxes will win capital from the funds.
But when it comes to private investments, Hans Nordby, director of advisory services for CoStar Group, said it’s hard to detect sovereign wealth fund money in deals today.
“Sovereign wealth funds have gotten smarter,” he said. “They are working through funds and keeping their names out of the newspapers. Look for even more of this money in 2011, although it may be hard to see.”