SAN FRANCISCO — GI Partners launched the GI Real Estate Essential Tech + Science Fund (ETS Fund), which seeks to invest in real estate assets that continuously operate in order to support mission critical functions of the technology and life sciences industries. The ETS Fund will seek to acquire data center properties, life sciences assets, and always on research and development (“R&D”) facilities within the office and industrial sectors.

Established in 2001, GI Partners has focused on downside-protected growth investing across all its strategies, with a particular focus on technology and health care. The ETS Fund seeks to continue the firm’s strategy of investing in specialized opportunities in essential technology and science real estate by capitalizing on the collective technology, life sciences, and real estate skill sets present within the company. The ETS Fund is led by John Sheputis, former president of Infomart, and a team of over 20 investment and management professionals.

“Since creating data center pioneer Digital Realty Trust in 2001, GI Partners has been a leader in technology and life sciences real estate,” said Rick Magnuson, executive managing director and founder of GI Partners. “As we celebrate the 20^th anniversary of our firm, we look forward to continuing to invest in this space with the launch of the ETS Fund.” 

“The global economy is being transformed by technological and science innovations impacting the way people live and work,” said John Sheputis, managing director of GI Partners and head of the ETS Fund. “Data centers, life sciences assets, and always on facilities support essential functions of the 24/7 modern economy. Our goal is to maximize risk-adjusted returns for our investors by identifying untapped segments of the market where our experience provides a critical competitive advantage. We believe our initial portfolio and extensive pipeline reflect the opportunities in these important sectors.”

Since launching in early 2021, the ETS Fund has been actively investing in a diverse portfolio of data centers, life sciences assets, and R&D facilities across the U.S., including the following.

• Walsh-Bowers Assemblage (207,534 square feet, Santa Clara, California), a portfolio of three buildings in the primary data center hub for Silicon Valley.
• Mt. Eden Research Park (369,986 square feet, Hayward, California), a six-building life sciences campus in the San Francisco Bay area — existing tenants are pioneers in their respective fields and position the asset well for future life sciences growth.
• The Pointe (89,145 square feet, Redwood City, California), two life sciences buildings adjacent to a rapidly maturing Bay Area life sciences submarket.
• 3701 Market St. (140,913 square feet, Philadelphia), a purpose-built lab and R&D facility with infrastructure to support high-quality wet labs, research, medical offices, and data center space.

“The GI Partners Real Estate team has an established track record of sourcing, acquiring, and managing mission critical real estate by identifying assets with the potential for both attractive near-term income yield and long-term upside value,” said John Saer, managing director and head of GI Partners Real Estate, which currently manages over $13 billion in assets, including a significant technology and life sciences real estate portfolio across 13 leading U.S. markets.”

“We are pleased to expand our offerings to a wider investor audience with the firm’s first open-end fund focused on the technology and life sciences sectors,” said Philip Yau, managing director of GI Partners. “We are grateful for the trust placed by our limited partners to continue our track record of investing in these growing and essential real estate areas.”