TIAA, Korean Fund Launch New JV

The previous JV of TH Real Estate and the Korean fund was launched with mezz debt on the Mobil Building in Midtown Manhattan.

NEW YORK CITY—Continuing a relationship they established in 2014, TH Real Estate and the Korean Teachers’ Credit Union have launched a new joint venture to invest in US commercial real estate debt. TH, a division of TIAA Global Asset Management, and KCTU will contribute up to $1 billion to the JV.

“The low interest rate environment has investors looking for yield and for defensive investments at this mature stage in the real estate cycle,” says Jack Gay, global head of debt at TH. “We continue to see strong demand from foreign capital looking for opportunities in the US which appear to be especially attractive on a relative basis, given global trends. Mezzanine loans in particular hold the potential to offer returns that are very close to equity returns.”