LaSalle holds $300m first close

The majority of capital for the Chicago-based investment firm’s new US value-added fund came from returning institutional investors.

LaSalle Investment Management, the Chicago-based investment arm of global property services firm Jones Lang LaSalle, has held a first close for its latest value-added fund, the firm said Tuesday.

The firm garnered $300 million in commitments for LaSalle US Income & Growth Fund VII, with 85 percent of the capital coming from institutional investors who made allocations to previous funds. With capital from the fund, LaSalle plans to invest in high-quality US assets across property types, the firm said in a statement.

Investors in the latest fund include Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, which invested $25 million, and Employees’ Retirement System of the State of Hawaii, which allocated $30 million, according to PERE Research & Analytics.

LaSalle closed its sixth fund, from 2012, at $511 million, according to PERE Research & Analytics. The firm used capital from the fund to buy assets that included a 21-building office park in Indianapolis, Indiana. Investors in LaSalle US Income & Growth Fund VI included Contra Costa County Employees’ Retirement Association, which committed $75 million, Cook County Employees’ and Officers’ Annuity and Benefit Funds, which allocated $30 million, and Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund and Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, which each invested $20 million, according to PERE Research & Analytics.

“Non-core investment opportunities continuously evolve but we have a deep understanding of the US market and our long experience in this strategy allows us to identify and add value to buildings providing capital appreciation while achieving solid income returns for the portfolio,” said Jim Hutchinson, president of the LaSalle Income & Growth Funds series, in a statement.

LaSalle’s Income & Growth Fund Series was launched in 1996. The first six funds in the series have invested $4.9 billion in US value-add opportunities to date.

The firm also started fundraising this year for LaSalle Asia Opportunity Fund V, a vehicle with a target size of $750 million. In total, LaSalle managed about $56.4 billion in assets as of the end of the third quarter.