Harrison Street’s Gorzawski launches life sciences-to-living platform

The former European head of capital markets firm Harrison Street has launched a European private equity real estate investment platform targeting the life sciences and living sectors. Daniel Gorzawski has set up Westwind Capital to pursue a pan-European strategy targeting life sciences and innovation real estate, as well as purpose-built student accommodation, build-to-rent, and the micro-living and co-living markets. Gorzawski was Harrison Street’s head of Europe between 2015 and 2020, creating specialist investment strategies focused on living sectors and other operationally intensive real estate. He oversaw the construction of a €3bn (£2.57bn) portfolio which included more than 16,000 student beds, 2,600 flats and more than 2m sq ft of life sciences space across five countries. During his time at Harrison Street, the firm raised more than $1bn in equity commitments for its first three European opportunity funds and one core vehicle. Prior to Harrison Street, Gorzawski spent nine years at AIG Global Real Estate. Gorzawski said: “While investor interest in specialist residential and, more recently, life sciences asset classes has grown considerably over the past few years, these sectors are still far from mature and benefit from the central theme of chronic undersupply.” He added that the living sectors were “extremely well positioned” to provide an inflation hedge, through strong demand-supply imbalances and shorter leases. “From my conversations with investors over the past year, I am confident there is clear demand for a new, nimble and expert investment platform that can provide them with access to these asset classes across Europe,” he said. “Additionally, having the flexibility to invest in different parts of the capital structure enables Westwind Capital to source volatility-induced opportunities, which may be forthcoming in the current environment, and create value for investors throughout market cycles.” Westwind intends to act as catalyst and consolidator to benefit from the strong demand from institutional investors for high-quality stabilised assets in these sectors. The business will adopt an aggregation strategy that aims to capture operational and capital market efficiencies from building out portfolios. It will aim to deliver value-add and opportunistic returns from investments across major European markets and primarily the UK, Ireland, France, Spain, and Germany. Westwind will principally undertake direct investments working in joint ventures with operating partners and developers, but will consider all entry points including through debt and special situations. ESG will be embedded into its investment and asset management process, with all potential transactions evaluated through a sustainability lens, adhering to high standards, while ongoing ESG opportunities will be factored into asset-level business plans. Gorzawski said: “I have strong ambitions for Westwind Capital and am excited to have the opportunity to leverage my experience and track record of building out a leading European investment platform with a specialist focus to ensure that my new venture is quickly established as a meaningful player in its target real estate sectors.” To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews Image: FTI Consulting