Artemis wraps Fund II on $580m

Artemis Real Estate Partners has wrapped its second real estate fund less than four months after holding its first close. In mid-January, the Chevy Chase, Maryland-based real estate investment manager held a first close for Artemis Real Estate Partners II on $422.5 million in commitments, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. With a final equity tally of $580 million, Fund II wound up surpassing its original target of $500 million. 

Fund II attracted largely the same investor base as Artemis’ previous offering, experiencing a 100 percent re-up rate from Fund I. Among those investors is the New York State Teachers Retirement System, which recently approved a $50 million commitment. Additionally, two new investors committed to the vehicle, including a corporate pension plan and an endowment, according to sources familiar with the situation.

With Fund II, Artemis will focus on opportunistic debt and equity deals in office, retail, industrial, multifamily, senior housing and hotel properties in the US. The firm will target investments in primary and secondary markets, focusing on the ‘smile states’, which include California, Texas and Florida. On a gross basis, the fund is targeting opportunistic returns.

The strategy for the second offering is very similar to that of the firm’s previous fund, Artemis Real Estate Partners. The firm closed on $436 million in commitments on behalf of its first fund in 2012, exceeding its original $350 million goal.

In addition to its commingled funds, Artemis also manages a $300 million emerging manager separate account with the New York State Common Retirement Fund, which was established in 2011. On behalf of the account, the firm makes enhanced core real estate investments across multiple property types via joint ventures with local emerging fund managers. As of October, Artemis had approved 13 managers and deployed more than $180 million, or 60 percent, of the program’s initial pool of capital.