Firm History

The firm was founded in 2005 by real estate veteran, Christopher Merrill, in partnership with the Galvin family (founding family of Motorola). Christopher Merrill and the firm’s senior executives have a long history of identifying unique and innovative investment strategies over their careers. It is in this spirit of innovation, integrity and investment discipline that Harrison Street was founded and continues to operate today.

In July 2018, Colliers International Group Inc. (CIGI) purchased the interests of the Galvin family and became Harrison Street’s new strategic partner. The transaction solves for succession of founders, ensures long-term firm stability and creates stronger alignment with the firm’s limited partners.

Key milestones follow:

2024

September Final close of US Opportunity Fund IX and Co-Investment Vehicles with total capital commitments of $2.5 billion

September Held our 2nd annual Digital Operating Partner Conference

September Held our 8th annual Senior Housing Conference

August Expands partnership with CPV through an investment in CPV Renewables

July Winner of the Sustainability Award at the 32nd annual PROPS

July Established the Britton J Stallings excellence in real estate memorial scholarship

June To date, largest summer internship program with 30 interns representing 20 universities

June Ranked in PropertyEU’s Top 100 Investors 2024 Edition

June Ranked #25 in PERE’s 100

May Recognized at the Tech Capital Awards

May Sold our first investment in the Canadian self storage sector

March Received three PERE Awards including: Alternatives Investor of the Year – Global, Data Centers Investor of the Year – North America, and ESG Firm of the Year – North America

February Honored in three categories of Fitwel’s 2024 Best in Building Health Awards: Fitwel Excellence Award: Most Certifications of All-Time, Greatest Number of Certifications (Owner), and “Highest Scoring Multifamily Residential Design Project

2023

December AUM of $56.3 billion

December 2023 Year End Letter

December First investment in Italy, a 260-unit residential property

December Received “Best Place to Work in Money Management” by Pensions & Investments for the ninth year

December Named “Investor of the Year” by Property Week’s 2023 Student Accommodation Awards

November Harrison Street’s Canada Alternative Real Estate Fund ranked #1 among all Canada core diversified funds and received the coveted status of Sector Leader by GRESB

November Held our inaugural ESG operating partner conference

November Won Environmental Finance’s award for “Large Enterprise of the Year” and “Net Zero Progression of the Year”

October Held our 7th annual Senior Housing operating partner conference

October Achieved the coveted GRESB 5-star rating for four strategies and the strong 4-star rating across three additional strategies

September Received the Graaskamp Real Estate Visionary Award

September Awarded ‘Large Enterprise of the Year’ and ‘Net Zero Progression in the Year’ in the 2023 Sustainable Company Awards by Environmental Finance

September Held our first digital operating partner conference

September First close of Harrison Street European Property Partners IV L.P.

September Opened Seoul office

August Infrastructure 5-Year Anniversary

June Opened Madrid office

June Awarded Crain’s 2023 Notable Leaders in Sustainability

June Ranked Top 500 Asset Managers by IPE

June Ranked Top 100 Dealmakers in Europe by PropertyEU

May Our summer internship program was the largest class to date with 29 interns representing 23 universities

April Awarded GlobeSt. “Best Places to Work”

April Opened Luxembourg office

March Closed our first investment in the Canadian life sciences sector

March Harrison Street’s core strategy received the PREA ESG Momentum Award

March Received several 2022 PERE Awards including: Alternatives Investor of the Year – Global, Industry Figure of the Year – Global, Residential Investor of the Year – Global, Data Centers Investor of the Year – Global, and Residential Investor of the Year – North America

February Received Fitwel’s Best in Building Health Special Recognition Award for Fitwel Excellence: Most Certifications of All Time

2022

December AUM of $55.0 billion

December Awarded Pensions & Investments ‘Best Places to Work’ for the eighth year

November Co-sponsored Belmont Village’s Midway International Airport ‘American Heroes’ exhibit that commemorates US veterans

November Announced our first annual Operating Partner ESG Leadership Awards

September Ranked 5th largest senior housing owner by American Senior Housing Association

August Closed our first investment in the Canadian medical office sector

June Our summer internship program was the largest class to date with 28 interns representing 19 universities

June Awarded Crain’s 2022 Notable Leaders in Sustainability

April Sold 27 healthcare buildings across 10 states

March Received two 2021 PERE Awards including Alternatives Investor of the Year: North America and Capital Raise of the Year: North America

February Received the Best in Building Health Award for the third consecutive year by The Center for Active Design

February Final close of Europe Fund III with total capital commitments of €800 million

2021

December AUM of $44.3 billion

December Harrison Street announces strategic climate action plan for global portfolio

December Opened San Francisco office

December Launched Mayroad, a new asset management company focused on military family housing

November Our offices (Chicago and London) and employee-related emissions achieved net zero GHG emissions

October Final close of US Opportunity Fund VIII and Co-Investment Vehicles with total capital commitments of $2.7 billion

October Held inaugural annual Women’s Summit as part of the Harrison Street Network of Women (“HS NOW”) programming

September Lantana Hall at Arizona State University’s Polytechnic Campus was awarded the 2021 Student Housing Business Innovator Award for Best Use of Green & Sustainable Construction and Design

August Launched Canada Alternative Real Estate open-end Fund

July Awarded best public-private partnership by Student Housing Business for Woodlawn Commons social infrastructure investment

July Acquired Summit Infrastructure Group, a leading dark fiber network solutions and bandwidth infrastructure

June The first residential building in Europe to be awarded a Fitwel 3-star rating

June Named one of the top 100 private real estate managers by PERE for the third consecutive year

May Our summer internship program was the largest class to date with 23 interns representing 15 universities

April Acquired BioCity Group, UK’s largest life sciences incubation business

March Along with our partners, awarded North America Single Asset Power Deal of the Year Award by Proximo Infra

March Formed industry-changing partnership with The Center for Active Design to accelerate the Healthy Building Movement

March Received four 2020 PERE Awards including Alternatives Investor of the Year: Global

February Received the Best in Building Health Award for Highest Score in Mutifamily Residential by The Center for Active Design

2020

December AUM of $32.0 billion

December Awarded Pensions & Investments “Best Places to Work” for the seventh consecutive year

October Awarded 25th Largest Real Estate Manager by Pensions & Investments

August Hosted our fourth annual senior housing operator conference

July Our summer internship program was the largest class to date with 16 interns representing 13 universities

May Opened Toronto office

April Social Infrastructure Fund acquired Fort Detrick Energy Production Facility, its second district energy investment

April Sold a 14 asset self storage portfolio in southeastern US

March Awarded 2019 Alternatives Investor of the Year: North America by PERE

February Received the distinguished Industry Leadership Award for Best in Building Health by The Center for Active Design

2019

December AUM of $24.8 billion

December Awarded Pensions & Investments “Best Places to Work” for the sixth consecutive year

December Acquired first life sciences portfolio in the UK

October Firm acquired its 1000th asset

August Final close of US Opportunity Fund VII and Co-Investment Vehicles with total capital commitments of $1.6 billion

August Rolled out inaugural Fitwel certification to senior and student housing properties

June Ranked in the Top 25 of PERE’s list of Top 100 private equity real estate firms

May Acquired life sciences portfolio, Osborn Triangle, in Cambridge

April Final close of Europe Fund II and Co-Investment Vehicle with total capital commitments of €700 million

2018

December AUM of $18.0 billion

December Awarded Pensions & Investments “Best Places to Work” for the fifth consecutive year

July Formed strategic partnership with Colliers International Group Inc.

July Succession planning completed with expansion of Executive and Management Committees

June Launched an infrastructure open-end fund

January Sold $1 billion student housing portfolio

January Harrison Street Healthy Aging Session hosted by Mayo Clinic for Senior Housing Operators

2017

December AUM of $13.7 billion

December Nominated as runner-up for PERE’s North America Firm of the Year Award

December Awarded Pensions & Investments “Best Places to Work” for the fourth consecutive year

June Final close of US Opportunity Fund VI and Co-Investment Vehicles with total capital commitments of $1.05 billion

June Launched two-year Investment Analyst program in Transaction department

March Created dedicated Operating Partners Services department

February Firm grew to over 100 employees

January Ranked 2nd in Top Owners of Student Housing by Student Housing Business

2016

December AUM of $12.2 billion

December Awarded Pensions & Investments “Best Places to Work” for the third consecutive year

November Europe Fund held final close with total capital commitments of €235 million

June Core Real Estate Open-End fund surpassed $5 billion in gross assets

February Completed privatization of publicly traded Campus Crest for $1.9 billion

February Firm sold its 250th asset

2015

December AUM of $8.4 billion

December Awarded Pensions & Investments “Best Places to Work” for the second consecutive year

October Opened London office

May Ranked 28 of 50 largest private equity real estate firms in the world by PERE

March Member of Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB)

January Final close of US Opportunity Fund V and Co-Investment Vehicle with total capital commitments of $1.1 billion

2014

December AUM of $6.6 billion

December Awarded Pensions & Investments top three “Best Places to Work” in Alternative Managers category

August Expanded healthcare delivery sector with acquisition of behavioral health asset

May Ranked 38 of 50 largest private equity real estate firms in the world by PERE

March Named top three “Firm of the Year” in North America category by PERE

2013

December AUM of $5.8 billion

October Sold portfolio of 43 self storage assets for $315 million

October Launched Sustainability committee to focus on firm’s ESG initiatives

July Final close of US Opportunity Fund IV with total capital commitments of $750 million

2012

December AUM of $4.0 billion

July Formed joint venture with 35th operating partner

2011

December AUM of $3.5 billion

November Launched core real estate open-end fund

October Registered as an Investment Adviser with the SEC

June Final close of US Opportunity Fund III with total capital commitments of $595.5 million

March Raised $1 billion of discretionary capital since inception

2010

December AUM of $2.5 billion

2009

December AUM of $2.0 billion

June Closed $135 million investment with Extra Space Storage making the firm the 7th largest US owner of storage by sq.ft.

2008

December AUM of $1.5 billion

July Final close of US Opportunity Fund II with total capital commitments of $431.6 million

2007

December AUM of $700 million

June Final close of US Opportunity Fund I with total capital commitments of $208.5 million

2006

December AUM of $390 million

August First Close of US Opportunity Fund I

2005

September Harrison Street founded