What happened
Tishman Speyer, the Manhattan-based developer and fund manager, has announced the second closing of its Korea Living Venture (KLV). The fund targets rental housing in Seoul and the wider capital region.
At this close a German pension investor, which the firm did not name, committed $75 million. That takes total commitments to $395 million, which Tishman Speyer says effectively meets its $400 million goal.
Who is backing the fund
The first close came in June, when Dutch pension managers APG Asset Management and Bouwinvest committed $300 million between them, without disclosing individual shares. Tishman Speyer contributed $20 million as sponsor.
APG manages money for Dutch pension fund ABP and sees Korean rental housing as a fit for its developed Asia strategy, citing demographics and demand for professionally run homes. Bouwinvest, for its part, has assembled housing investments worldwide on behalf of the pensions it serves.
With expected borrowing, the firm says the fund should be able to invest more than $800 million.
What the fund buys
In August KLV bought Songdo CoStay in Incheon, a nine-storey complex of 411 furnished units in the Songdo International Business District. Residents share lounges, kitchens, a gym, laundry rooms and parking. Neither the price nor the seller was disclosed, and market sources said Seoul-based Gravity Asset Management partnered on the deal.
The strategy is to acquire existing residential assets that can be upgraded and to take selective positions in new development. Target locations sit near business districts, universities and major transport hubs.
Why Korean rentals
Tishman Speyer links rental demand in Seoul to rising housing costs, more single-person households and a growing number of foreign residents and international students.
Graham Mackie, the firm's head of pan-Asia, said the second close shows investors still believe in Korea's living sector. Judy Jang, head of research at Newmark Korea, has noted that the Korean rental market remains fragmented and less institutional than several other big markets in the region.
The firm's shift toward housing
KLV is Tishman Speyer's first dedicated real estate strategy in South Korea. The firm opened a Seoul office in 2022, building on ties with Korea's National Pension Service (NPS) that go back to 2011. In 2021 the two set up a $1.5 billion separately managed account to invest in US property.
The fund is part of a broader push into residential. Since 2023 Tishman Speyer has bought about 3,800 homes in 13 communities across three countries and started or finished roughly 4,100 rental apartments. Another 7,400 units are in its development pipeline.
What it means for Bali
KLV's capital comes from European pension investors: Dutch APG and Bouwinvest and an unnamed German investor. The fund is assembling not single apartments but a portfolio of professionally managed rental housing aimed at students, professionals and foreign residents.
Bali's villa market is also fragmented, with most properties held by private owners. The report says nothing about plans by these investors for Bali or Southeast Asia.