How Harrison Street raised $1bn for niche real estate in just four weeks

This week, PERE revealed that Chicago-based alternatives specialist Harrison Street held a first close for its 10th flagship US real estate fund, Harrison Street Real Estate Partners X, with $1 billion in commitments – after just one month on the road. The fundraise comes as economic and geopolitical uncertainty threaten a potential real estate recovery. The speed of the first close, which brings Harrison Street a third of the way to its $3 billion hard-cap for HSREP X, is also notable when considering the average time most real estate funds spend in the market has stretched to 23 months, according to PERE’s latest fundraising report. In this episode, Lucy Scott, Greg Dool and PERE senior reporter Harrison Connery discuss why the fund – launched in April, per SEC filings – has attracted so much attention. We also hear from David Hodes, founder and co-managing partner of advisory boutique Hodes Weill & Associates, who tells PEI Group's real estate editor-in-chief Jonathan Brasse why Harrison Street's vision for its 10th US vehicle was able to tempt institutional investors, both old and new, to back it.