Singapore-based Mapletree Investments has made a major push into U.S. industrial assets with the acquisition of 141 logistics properties for about $3B. Before the acquisitions, the investor had 14 logistics assets in the United States.

In July, Mapletree bought a portfolio of 24 properties totaling 6.1M SF in the greater Dallas, Memphis, Chicago, Central Florida and Boston markets. That portfolio was 98.9% occupied at the time of the sale.

In September, the company bought 117 assets totaling 22.3M SF in the greater Chicago, the Carolinas, Memphis, Houston and Washington, D.C./Baltimore markets. Those buildings are 94.1% occupied.

"Many of the low-lying fruits in the local market have already been plucked," ERA Real Estate Head of Research & Consultancy Nicholas Mak, also based in Singapore, told the Straits Times. "The company will have to look overseas for more opportunities to expand its portfolio, while still generating stable income at an acceptable risk level."

Mapletree is hardly alone among foreign investors in the rush to find U.S. industrial properties. The 2021 survey of non-U.S. investors by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate found that interest in U.S. assets remains high, especially multifamily and industrial.

Among overseas investors surveyed, 60% planned to increase their investment in U.S. commercial real estate in 2021, and about three-quarters expected their level of investment in U.S. commercial real estate to increase over the next three to five years. Over the same period, 86% of respondents said they plan to increase their U.S. multifamily holdings, while 79% plan to increase their U.S. industrial holdings.

Mapletree, whose CRE holdings are worldwide, has about $14.8B in U.S. real estate assets (counting the latest acquisitions), including industrial, data centers, multifamily and student housing.

“The U.S. logistics sector is amongst the best performing and most resilient of all the real estate markets in which Mapletree operates globally," Mapletree Regional CEO of Europe and USA Michael Smith said in a statement.