Canyon-Johnson Closes New $1 Billion Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund III

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorLos Angeles–The Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund, a partnership of Canyon Capital Realty Advisors and retired basketball player, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, recently closed its $1 billion Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund III.The third fund, which is more than the $900 million combined equity of the two predecessor funds, will facilitate more than $4 billion in new development and urban revitalization in the top 40 U.S. metropolitan markets.The fund’s focus is to identify and capture value through the development, redevelopment, acquisition and repositioning of real estate properties located in densely populated, ethnically diverse neighborhoods.Fund III received commitments from a broad range of public and private pension funds, endowments, foundations and investment companies from throughout the U.S. In addition to meeting its financial bottom-line investment objectives, CJUF III will seek to provide and foster economic opportunities for underserved residents of the urban neighborhoods in which it invests and to enhance the environment by pursuing LEED certifications and supporting transit-oriented housing that helps to reduce traffic and accompanying emissions.“The success of the Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds has proven that investing in ethnically diverse markets can not only generate strong financial returns, but also benefit local communities and facilitate a positive environmental impact,” says Bobby Turner, the fund’s managing partner. Since inception in 2001, the Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds have invested in transactions encompassing a diverse mix of property types including retail, residential, mixed-use, commercial and industrial in a diverse group of urban markets including Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Brooklyn, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Nashville, San Diego and Washington, D.C. “The potential for continued revitalization in ethnically diverse communities is nearly limitless,” says Earvin “Magic” Johnson.