MORRISTOWN, NJ-The Hampshire Cos. has closed the Hampshire Partners Fund VIII, a commingled, discretionary value-added real estate investment fund targeted at institutional investors. The fund raised $339 million from 20 investors, including endowments, foundations, and public/private pension funds.

The goal of fund VIII is to produce superior risk-adjusted investment returns through the acquisition, repositioning, management, and disposition of a diversified portfolio of industrial, retail, suburban office, self-storage and medical office properties.

“Our ability to read the marketplace and our experience in successfully navigating through over 50 years of real estate cycles allows us to continue to strengthen our investor portfolios while broadening our scope,” says James E. Hanson II, CEO and president of The Hampshire Companies, in a statement. “We seek out niche investment opportunities and use our operational experience to in order to drive the execution of our value-added repositioning strategies. 

The investment focus for Fund VIII is on diversified value-add opportunities in the industrial, retail, and suburban office, self-storage and medical office asset classes located in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. Fund VIII is currently 20 percent invested, having already acquired nine assets with an aggregate value of approximately $200 million. The Fund will be acquiring approximately $750 million of real estate during its investment period.

“This fund offering achieved a tremendous amount of interest and consideration despite a challenging real estate environment, which I believe is a testament to our ability and reputation of being nimble and adaptable in managing our portfolio during the challenging economic times of the last three plus years,” noted Hanson. “As a result, we had many repeat investors from prior fund offerings that were eager to be a part of Fund VIII and they were instrumental in helping us establish relationships with new investors. We look forward to continuing a successful partnership as we begin investing the fund.”