Rather than siloing its investments into traditional commercial real estate sectors, investment manager Harrison Street focuses its investments on the needs people have as they move through life.
“Instead of multifamily, we invest in student housing,” said Harrison Street managing director Dave Liu in an interview with Yale Insights. “Instead of retail, we invest in self storage. Instead of generic office, we invest in medical office and biotech.”
This approach positions the firm in sectors that are constantly in demand and resilient to economic downturns. It learned the value of this strategy during the global financial crisis just three years after it launched in 2005 when what were once niche asset classes proved to be less volatile. COVID-19 and subsequent hyperinflation and rising interest rates reinforced the strength of its investment philosophy as it has weathered multiple black swan events.
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Today, Harrison Street is a large investor in private-pay senior living communities, which has and will continue to benefit from the large wave of aging baby boomers. This demographic has had a major impact on American society as it has moved through different life stages and has influenced trends in every sector from healthcare services to senior living, said Liu.
In healthcare, the firm focuses primarily on medical outpatient buildings under Lui’s leadership as a managing director of the asset management team with responsibility for its healthcare and life sciences sectors. Harrison Street’s healthcare portfolio encompasses 15 million square feet in 220 assets with between $6 billion and $7 billion in gross asset value. Its life sciences portfolio includes 41 assets covering 5.6 million square feet and $5 billion to $6 billion in gross asset value.
Harrison Street manages its investments through monetization and disposition, including developing new properties, acquiring existing properties and repositioning assets to add value. Its recent acquisition of a Houston-area building that was leased long-term as a treatment facility for MD Anderson Cancer Center is an example of its strategy to hold investments with income and asset appreciation returns. In Connecticut, it recently delivered a complicated life sciences development with high-quality lab space that required coordination among multiple stakeholders.
“It was a great investment opportunity for us because it aligns several of our strategies, including life sciences, locations around university campuses, and proximity to large health systems,” Liu told Yale Insights.
A Yale School of Management alumni, Liu parlayed an interest in urban development into a career in commercial real estate. His specialty in healthcare and life sciences grew out of his early work at healthcare REIT Ventas, which sparked a passion for working in sectors that have a higher impact on society.
“I love the tangible nature of real estate,” said Liu. “When we provide spaces where healthcare practices and biotech startups can thrive, that’s good for everyone — patients, tenants, landlords, our company, and our investors. You can actually see these properties doing important things for the neighborhood, the community, and sometimes even beyond.”
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Kristen Smithberg
Kristen Smithberg is a Colorado-based freelance writer who covers commercial real estate, insurance, benefits and retirement topics for BenefitsPRO and other industry publications.
