MOSCOW-Houston-based Hines has formed a fund toinvest more than $1.1 billion into properties in Russia and Poland.The Hines Russia & Poland Fund, which will bebased in Luxembourg, has already allocated equity to two outletmalls and a big box development in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

This is the fourth Hines fund to invest in the two countries.The fund will be led by X. Simon Chen, and locallyby Lee Timmins in Russia and MietekGodzisz in Poland. The company currently manages $2billion of property in Russia and Poland.

Timmins said in a statement today that retail space is in highdemand in Russia. “In addition to our successful officedevelopments, we are very excited about the development prospectsin Russia in the retail, warehousing and residential propertysectors, which take advantage of the growth of the Russian middleclass and the rapidly growing consumer spending power,” hesaid.