CHICAGO-Harrison Street Real Estate Capital LLC has completed the final closing of its fund Harrison Street Real Estate Partners III LP, which received commitments of more than $595 million. The goal had been $500 million and the cap $600 million to purchase assets in the education, health care and storage segments across the United States.

Christopher Merrill, the company’s co-founder, president and CEO, tells GlobeSt.com that he’s pleased that the fund was able to attract US and European pension funds, insurance companies, endowments, foundations and family offices. “We’re excited to put this money to work in a healthy pipeline,” he says. The fund will leverage to more than $2 billion buying power.

Already, the fund has invested more than $530 million to purchase 24 assets. The properties include six assisted living facilities in the Washington, DC area that are 90% occupied; two senior housing communities in Oregon and Montana; a 580-bed student housing development at 601 Forest in Ann Arbor, MI, near the University of Michigan; two medical office buildings in Michigan and northern Florida; and even a 500-boat storage facility across the Hudson River from Manhattan.

Merrill’s firm already completed its first two funds, at $208 million, for the first, and $430 million in the second. This push was larger, he says, and took a little more time, having been launched in summer 2010. “There was a lot of diligence, people were doing deep dives. They saw the benefit of these asset types,” he says. “We hope to do a fourth fund, we see in the next 10 to 15 years real opportunity in this segment. For right now we’ll just focus on managing our existing portfolio and investing this capital.”