Phoenix rises with $470m of commitments

The US urban real estate group has closed two vehicles despite the slowdown in US housing.

Phoenix Realty Group has closed the Metropolitan Workforce Housing Fund and the Genesis Workforce Housing Fund II.

Phoenix is headquartered in New York and has offices in Los Angeles and San Diego.  The firm’s urban private equity funds invest in market-rate housing for middle-income workers in the US.

Together, the two funds raised $470 million (€318 million) of equity following the latest round of fundraising.

The New York State Common Retirement System, the New York City Employee Retirement System and TIAA-CREF Global Social and Community Investments are among the limited partners that have invested recently, it said in a statement.

“Closing these funds at this time demonstrates that investors endorse our long-term strategy, which can weather changing cycles and deliver solid returns on investment,” said J. Michael Fried, chief executive officer.

The Metropolitan Workforce Housing Fund focuses on the New York,New Jersey,Connecticut tri-state metropolitan area while the Genesis Workforce Housing Fund II targets greater Los Angeles.

Fried is one of three real estate pros that founded the firm. Keith Rosenthal and E. Ron Orgel are the others.