NORTH AMERICA – PGGM and Inland Real Estate Corporation have expanded their existing joint venture acquisition programme with new commitments totalling $230m (€172m).

Inland is to commit $120m, while PGGM will invest an additional $100m.

The follow-on commitments reflect the terms of the initial equity joint venture, with Inland holding a 55% interest and PGGM 45%. 

The new capital will give the joint venture the capability of investing a total capitalisation of $400m into the market. 

This will be achieved by placing around 45% debt on any new investments made for the venture.

According to a spokesman at Inland, the overall investment strategy is to target "necessity-based, grocery-anchored" or community retail shopping centres in specific Midwest markets in the US, particularly Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Kansas City.

In a conference call last week, however, Inland said it was also open to new development opportunities, including high-quality, pre-leased properties, as well as anchor tenant properties under development in either Chicago or Minneapolis.

According to a document from Inland, the company now has total commitments in the venture totalling $280m, and PGGM, $230m. 

When all of the capital is invested, there will be a total capitalisation of $900m.

Inland and PGGM first established the venture, which is to run for 10 years, in 2010. 

After five years, Inland has the option to buy out PGGM's stake, acquiring 20% of the portfolio at a time on an annual basis.