Nuveen Real Estate Raises $320 Million for U.S. Cities Retail Fund

Capital to be deployed in grocery-anchored, necessity-based retail across top U.S. neighborhoods

Nuveen Real Estate, one of the largest real estate investment managers globally, today announced it has raised $320 million in new capital from institutional investors for its U.S. Cities Retail Fund. The open-ended fund, part of Nuveen’s U.S. Cities series, is one of the few Open End Diversified Core Equity-benchmarked retail vehicles available in the market today.

Launched in 2018, the U.S. Cities Retail Fund targets necessity-based neighborhood retail properties anchored by grocery and daily needs tenants. The strategy focuses on high-liquidity markets where consumers live and work, and where well capitalized retailers are looking to expand.

“Having been through the full cycle of retail real estate, we can say that this is a great vintage moment for the sector and are excited to see the strong momentum and investor interest from this new capital to the strategy,” said Katie Grissom, Head of Retail and Mixed-Use, Nuveen Real Estate. “Nuveen Real Estate’s unique, sectorized approach has leading experts at the helm of every step of the process – across asset management, asset selection and research. Informed by our proprietary research across public and private markets, our team has a unique, multi-dimensional view into consumer behavior, market dynamics, and policy trends, allowing us to be more thoughtful and strategic in how we underwrite retail, especially at the neighborhood level where local nuance matters most.”

“Institutional capital is increasingly recognizing the resilience of necessity-based retail,” said Brian Wallick, Senior Director & Portfolio Manager, Nuveen Real Estate. “We are also seeing an abundance of lender appetite in this space, providing an ability to maximize risk-adjusted returns, while also creating real and efficient fund scale. We continue to focus on high-quality locations with essential tenants serving high-income consumers demonstrating resilient, consistent demand for tenant products and services. With our geographically dispersed, vertically integrated team, we’re well positioned to unlock value and drive performance across the portfolio.”

The fund is part of Nuveen’s broader retail platform, which manages $8 billion in assets under management, representing $16 billion in gross value across a diversified national portfolio that includes some of the country’s most iconic retail assets.