History
90 North was founded in 2011 by senior real estate investment executives Philip Churchill and Nick Judd. James Caan CBE was appointed as our Chairman, with Faisal Butt being instrumental in bringing the four equity partners together.
Investing commenced in the United Kingdom in 2012, with the purchase of both student accommodation in Canterbury and a Siemens let industrial facility outside Lincoln.
During 2014 the business grew internationally. A United States subsidiary was established in Chicago, quickly followed by the acquisition of the FBI’s regional headquarters in Denver, Colorado. Meanwhile, the purchase of a warehouse investment outside Oslo, Norway marked the commencement of a Continental European division.
Building on our strong investor base in the Middle East, a Malaysian representative office was opened in early 2015 to expand investor reach into Southeast Asia.
Total acquisitions reached $1 billion in 2016. Growth across all geographies led to this doubling to $2 billion just two years later in 2018.
Positioning ourselves for growth, the new position of Head of Business Development was established in 2019, with a focus on clearly defining our core plus investment strategies and expanding our geographic investor coverage even further.
We are very proud to have become a Founding Partner of the CBI backed Good Business Charter in early 2020, reinforcing the principles that established our business a decade ago.
Milestones
Formed in 2011, we’ve achieved an enormous amount. Our purpose is to continue identifying and offering investment opportunities that are ethically sound and commercially valuable.
November 2011
90 North Real Estate Partners LLP is established in Mayfair, London.
June 2012
We close our first transaction, the £46,000,000 acquisition of Parham Student Village, Canterbury.
December 2013
Our assets under management goes above £250,000,000.
April 2014
A US subsidiary is established with an office in downtown Chicago.
June 2014
First sale of L’Oreal logistics warehouse in Nottingham provides investors a 30% profit after just 18 months.
July 2014
The FBI Headquarters in Denver is acquired, marking our entry into US real estate market.
November 2014
The acquisition of a logistics warehouse in Oslo, Norway becomes our first Continental Europe transaction.
January 2015
Representative office opens in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
February 2015
Acquisition of Lenovo Server Headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina pushes total US acquisitions to more than 1,000,000 sq.ft.
June 2015
First Dutch acquisition of Siemens Headquarters property outside Amsterdam.
November 2015
German Primark deal breaks 90 North through the $1,000,000,000 mark.
January 2016
90 North closes two UK acquisitions for £65,000,000 within the first two weeks of 2016.
October 2016
We have 2,000,000 sq.ft. US office space under management and our assets under management exceed $1,500,000,000.
September 2017
We complete our fourth warehouse exit – a total of approx. €145,000,000.
December 2017
We acquire two additional student accommodation assets, taking total beds under management to over 2,200.
February 2018
We successfully execute our first transaction of 2018 – the disposition of our Lenovo HQ office campus in Raleigh, North Carolina for $135,300,000.
June 2018
We complete our first Australian acquisition, a Quest aparthotel in Greater Springfield, Brisbane.
October 2018
We complete our third UK purpose-built student accommodation acquisition of 2018, taking our total acquired to over 2,700 beds.
March 2019
Acquisition of Mercedes-Benz HQ in Holland brings total Dutch office HQ acquisitions to more than 60,000 sq.m.
February 2020
Founding Partner of the Good Business Charter.
May 2020
Restructured to reflect the challenges of COVID-19, the purchase of a long-leased healthcare tenanted office outside Cincinnati and student accommodation in the UK are completed.
April 2021
US investments exceed $850,000,000.
October 2021
Malaysian representative office becomes an incorporated subsidiary for the Asia region.
November 2021
90 North celebrates it’s 10th anniversary.
April 2022
90 North becomes a signatory to the Principles for Responsible Investment.
June 2022
Closing of Academy Investment Fund of UK student accommodation.
Responsible Investment – ESG
Responsible property investment is integral to achieving profitable business with a good conscience.
We are committed that all investments are environmentally sound, socially responsible and appropriately governed. Ethical investing is part of our heritage, with many of our investors having undertaken Shari’ah compliant investments with us since we were first established a decade ago.
Environment
We avoid acquiring properties where:
- environmental issues have occurred or are likely to do so
- the tenant’s activity is likely to damage the environment
- tenants’ requirements for energy efficiencies can’t be met
We prefer to acquire properties that provide best-in-class accommodation, including buildings with:
- “Excellent” or “Outstanding” rating from BREEAM in the UK
- at least “Silver” LEED certified in the US.
Social
We apply the following principles:
- not acquiring properties where the tenant’s activity could have a negative social impact and be subject to adverse government intervention
- frequently purchasing properties that have a positive social impact, including care homes and student accommodation
- delivering accommodation that is fit for purpose
- engaging in frequent tenant liaison to address any tenant issues or wishes
- delivering a positive environment for people working at 90 North, encouraging personal development and responsibility.
Governance
We apply the following principles:
- co-investing in all acquisitions unless requested not to by the investor, believing a clear alignment of interests is essential
- aligning remuneration of our Partners to the performance of individual investments
- where boards are established for the management of transactions, ensuring that the board members have the necessary skills to fulfil such a role
- being totally transparent in all aspects of our business dealings
- establishing shareholder agreements on transactions that are equitable to all participants
How We Work
By determining with both existing and prospective investors which preferred core plus investment strategies suit them best, a foundation is established onto which transaction activity is built.
- Combining macro top down research with bottom up local market intelligence, preferred core plus investment strategies are established, with a focus on superior risk-adjusted returns with capital preservation.
- A global perspective and access to a pipeline of both on and off market investment opportunities increases the choice and quality of transactions that we are able to offer investors
- A careful screening process covers every aspect of the investment, including the precise profile and use of the building, tenant quality, building age, obsolescence and sustainability
- We are well known for overcoming the kinds of complexities that can often cause deals to fail, with the Investment, Asset Management and Finance teams working together to get the deal closed.
- Proactive management of assets delivers the established business plan, while constantly monitoring tenant requirements and local market dynamics to identify opportunities to add further value
- Co-ordinating the internal and offshore company administrators’ activities, regular financial and asset reporting to both investors and finance providers is supplemented by our team being available to respond to any query
- Once the decision is made to market an asset for sale, we orchestrate the team of external professionals to deliver this result, with a post exit diligent closing down of the structure and financial matters