(Bloomberg) -- Real estate private equity firm Rockpoint Group formed a joint venture with BEB Capital to invest as much as $1 billion in U.S. industrial properties. 

The partners will focus on the Northeast, particularly Long Island, New York, where BEB is based. The venture already has acquired nearly 660,000 square feet (61,000 square meters) of assets, according to a statement. 

“The U.S. industrial and last-mile logistics sector continues to be red-hot, and with the growth of e-commerce accelerating during the pandemic, we expect there to be continued strong demand in this asset class,” Lee J. Brodsky, chief executive officer of BEB Capital, said in the statement. 

U.S. industrial property investment reached $38 billion in the third quarter, up 124% from a year earlier, according to brokerage CBRE Group Inc. 

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