Oxford Properties Group and Denver-based EverWest Real Estate Investors have acquired six U.S. industrial properties as the first assets in a $1.3-billion (all figures Cdn) joint venture to acquire and develop infill industrial assets.

The initial acquisitions total over 1.1 million square feet of space in Denver, San Diego, Portland, Phoenix, Houston and Nashville. The partners paid $203 million for the properties.

“As Oxford continues to expand its industrial business across North America, our strategic partnership with EverWest, which offers strong operational and development management capabilities, will accelerate and diversify our investment plan to meaningfully grow our national footprint,” said Chad Remis, executive vice-president, North America at Oxford Properties, in the announcement.

The joint venture will target a mix of core-plus, value-add investments and developments, focusing primarily on infill industrial properties across major U.S. high-growth industrial markets.

“EverWest has built a reputation for successful strategic collaboration with our investment partners over the past few decades,” said EverWest founder and CEO Rick Stone in the announcement.

“We are proud and excited to continue that tradition with the Oxford team, providing our unparalleled industrial acquisition capabilities and working side-by-side to further diversify Oxford’s U.S real estate exposure with quality, performance-focused investments.”

It’s also the second major U.S. investment this week for Oxford Properties, which earlier announced the $200-million acquisition of Research Commons, a life science complex and development land in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina.

Oxford to provide capital for JV

Oxford will provide most of the capital and drive overall strategy for the industrial partnership with EverWest leading the acquisitions and day-to-day asset operations.

“Our investment is based on an immediate go-to-market aggregation opportunity that exists today in the industrial sector and, in partnering with EverWest, we have found an operator with the proven experience and know-how to support Oxford’s continued growth in the sector,” said Ankit Bhatt, vice-president, investments at Oxford Properties, in the release.

Part of a thematic global capital allocation strategy, Oxford has substantially grown its U.S. industrial business in recent years. The company has invested across three main U.S. logistics verticals — big-box, infill light industrial and niche/alternatives.

In January 2019, Oxford partners with Ivanhoe Cambridge to acquire big-box platform IDI Logistics for $4.4 billion.

In 2020, it became a significant investor in Lineage Logistics, the world’s leading cold-storage logistics provider.

Oxford’s other recent industrial investments

In August, Oxford announced its acquisition of a 14.5 million-square-foot infill and light industrial portfolio from KKR for $2.8 billion.

The portfolio includes 149 distribution buildings in 12 major industrial U.S. markets, including the Inland Empire, Dallas, Atlanta, Phoenix, Chicago, Houston, Tampa, Orlando, San Diego and the Baltimore-Washington corridor.

In September, Oxford completed its acquisition of M7 Real Estate, a market-leading pan-European logistics investment and asset manager.

As a result, Oxford is rapidly closing in on its goal to deploy one third of its equity in global logistics as it continues to invest in, build and buy physical infrastructure which serves the emerging digital economy.

“As one of the multiple avenues we’re employing to expand our overall U.S. industrial business, this partnership will accelerate the buildout of our national light industrial platform and complements our recently acquired ($2.8 billion) infill portfolio from KKR, and existing 50 per cent investment in IDI Logistics, a top-tier U.S. modern logistics developer,” Bhatt said in the announcement.

“With strong market fundamentals and growth prospects, industrial remains one of our highest-conviction sectors and core to Oxford’s North American strategy.”

About Oxford Properties, EverWest

Oxford Properties Group is a global real estate investor, asset manager and business builder. Established in 1960, Oxford and its portfolio companies manage approximately $80 billion in assets across four continents.

Oxford’s owned portfolio encompasses office, logistics, retail, multiresidential, life sciences and hotels; it spans nearly 160 million square feet in global gateway cities and high-growth hubs.

The firm invests in properties, portfolios, development sites, debt, securities and real estate businesses across the risk-reward spectrum. Together with its portfolio companies, Oxford is one of the world’s most active developers with over 100 projects underway globally across all major asset classes.

Oxford is owned by OMERS, the Canadian defined benefit pension plan for Ontario’s municipal employees.

EverWest Real Estate Investors is a real estate investment advisor providing investment management services throughout the U.S. including acquisitions, asset management, development and property management.

With $4.8 billion in assets under management, EverWest clients invest through separately managed accounts and commingled funds.

The firm is headquartered in Denver with offices in New York City, Charlotte, Los Angeles and San Francisco. EverWest is an affiliate of Sagard, a leading global alternative asset management platform within the Power Corporation ecosystem.