The joint venture has acquired a total of 78 propertiesnationally with a mix of different type of properties and a totalof 12.1 million sf of gross leasable area. The portfolio includes52 retail properties, 12 office properties, 13 industrialproperties and one multifamily property, says George Pandaleon,president of Inland Institutional Capital Partners. The portfoliois anticipated to reach approximately $2.7 billion, he says.

Inland entered into the joint venture with Minto Builders inOctober. As part of the joint venture, Minto invested $300 millionand Inland American Real Estate Trust was obligated to invest $1.2billion and acquire properties with a total value of approximately$2.7 billion, including the IDS Center in Downtown Minneapolis. "Itis probably the most successful launch of a REIT that Inland hasvery had in terms of building up the company and delivering goodsolid returns to our shareholders very quickly," he says.

Pandaleon tells GlobeSt.com he believes the REIT was successfulbecause it had a variety of types of property. "This REIT, unlikesome of our previous REITs, has a mandate to buy different propertytypes," he says. The joint venture was able to acquire a$450-million portfolio of retail properties in the Houston areaearly on in the REIT. "By bringing in capital from our partners inthis venture, we were able to acquire that very early in the lifeof the REIT well before we would otherwise have been able to buyanything of that scale," he says.