CalSTRS Put $1.36B to Work in Six Real Estate Funds in H1 2023

The California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), which controls over $321 billion in assets, invested $1.363 billion in six real estate funds in the first half of 2023.

The biggest investment was $797 million in PacificCal Debt II, a joint venture with PCCP, a real estate firm based in Los Angeles. PacificCal Debt II will make debt investments backed by core real estate.

CalSTRS invested $495 million in PacificCal Debt II in 2018 and $297 million in PacificCal Debt V in 2021.

The pension fund also put $200 million into LDP Cal I, a controlled multifamily joint venture between CalSTRS and Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners. The fund will invest in core, value-add, and opportunistic real estate in the US.

Co-investments of $100 million each were made in Harrison Street Real Estate Partners IX and BentallGreenOak US Cold Storage, and $66 million to The Urban Vision Fund I.

HSREP IX is a closed-end value-add fund that invests in healthcare, medical office, R&D, self-storage, senior and student housing. The fund’s goal is to raise $4 billion.

BentallGreenOak US Cold Storage is managed by the Miami-based real estate investment firm BentallGreenOak. The pension fund’s latest investment follows a $225 million investment in June 2022.

Primestor Development manages the $66 million co-investment with The Urban Vision Fund I. The firm specializes in the development and acquisition of retail, transit-oriented, and mixed-use properties in urban and minority communities. The fund is particularly interested in California markets.

CalSTRS is also investing $100 million in Fairfield US Multifamily Value Add Fund IV, a closed-end fund focused on multifamily properties.

CalSTRS’s real estate investments reached $1.363 billion in 2023, increasing the pension fund’s real estate holdings by a net $342 million, while the pension fund also disposed of $1.021 billion in previous real estate investments during the same year.