Rockpoint Group is joining forces with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority to acquire about $2B in industrial assets in the United States. The investment vehicle will focus on "build-to-core industrial investments" nationwide, according to the investors.

The platform has already closed on its first deal, the acquisition of 865 Embedded Way, a 117K SF industrial development project in Silicon Valley's South San Jose submarket. On the whole, Silicon Valley is a hot industrial market. During the first quarter of 2022, net absorption in the market was 1.2M SF, the highest positive absorption since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Avison Young reports.

The partnership with ADIA, the sovereign wealth fund of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, follows a similar platform Rockpoint formed in 2021 with industrial real estate investor and operator Benjamin Harris.

Rockpoint, a Boston-based private real estate investor, is seeking other kinds of hot investment properties as well. Late last year, Invitation Homes formed a joint venture with Rockpoint to acquire single-family residential properties. The JV will be capitalized with a total of $375M, of which $75M will be committed by Invitation Homes and $300M will be committed by Rockpoint.

With debt, the partners expect to invest roughly $1B in the West and Southeast, where Invitation Homes already owns homes.

“We view this investment as an opportunity to supplement our long-standing focus on for-rent housing across the United States,” Rockpoint co-founder Keith Gelb said in a statement.

Along with multifamily and single-family housing ventures, industrial has been the hottest real estate asset class since the onset of the pandemic. While it has drawn a large portion of investor interest, ADIA's head of real estate said the wealth fund still sees opportunity in the space.

"We have built a sizeable portfolio of industrial real estate assets and continue to see attractive opportunities in the sector," ADIA Real Estate Department Executive Director Mohamed AlQubaisi said in a statement. "This new platform with Rockpoint aligns with our approach of investing with proven partners to target specific areas of value."