Christopher N. Merrill
Harrison Street Real Estate Capital
Christopher Merrill is the Co-Founder, President and CEO of Harrison Street Real Estate Capital, LLC, a real estate private equity firm founded in 2005 that manages private equity funds and public securities products. Mr. Merrill is also a member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Investment and Management Committees of the company. The firm has raised three funds: Harrison Street Real Estate Partners I, LP a US$210 million real estate fund that has buying power of over US$800 million; Harrison Street Real Estate Partners II, LP, a US$431 million real estate fund that has buying power of over US$1.5 billion; and Harrison Street Real Estate Partners III, LP, which held its fourth close in March 2011 at US$415.5 million toward a goal of raising US$500 million. Investors in these funds include some of the largest family offices in the US as well as endowments, foundations, pension funds, insurance companies and foreign investors. As of March 2011, the firm has acquired or has under development 190+ properties worth US$2.5 billion throughout 34 states in the US. The portfolio includes more than 4,800 senior housing/assisted living units; 62,100 storage units; 16,600 student housing beds; 1,000,000 square feet of medical office space; and 3,300 units of dry and wet boat storage. Harrison Street Securities LLC, acquired in 2011, currently manages over US$350 million in REIT securities through three distinct long-only product offerings.
Prior to co-founding Harrison Street Real Estate Capital, LLC, Mr. Merrill was a Partner, Owner and Managing Director of Heitman LLC, a real estate investment management firm that manages over US$18 billion. Over the course of his 15-year career with Heitman, Mr. Merrill executed real estate transactions consisting of over US$4 billion for the firm’s clients and principals. Mr. Merrill developed the firm’s presence in Europe and over a seven-year period grew the assets under management in Europe to well over US$2.5 billion. He was responsible for oversight of the 40-person international investment department, development of new business initiatives, including specialized jointventures in the US and Europe, and marketing of the firm’s investment products.
Over his career, Mr. Merrill has acquired and/or developed over US$7 billion of real estate in both the US and Europe on behalf of some of the world’s largest investors in all segments of the property markets (office, warehouse, retail, residential, land, hotel, self-storage, medical office, student housing, senior housing, parking and marinas). During this time, he has established and implemented more than 45 joint ventures with real estate operating partners across the US and Europe.
Mr. Merrill has appeared in numerous real estate journals and on panels regarding investing in the US and Europe. In 2011, National Real Estate Investor magazine named Mr. Merrill as one of the “10 To Watch” leaders in the real estate industry. Mr. Merrill is a member of the Urban Land Institute, PREA, The Economic Club of Chicago and the Chicago Commonwealth Club. In addition, the firm is a member of the Self Storage Association (SSA), National Multi-Housing Association, International Marina Association and Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA). Mr. Merrill earned his MBA in the evening from the CASS school of business in London, England, and he has a BA in Economics from Roanoke College.
