With its purchase along with Duke Realty of three office buildings near Research Triangle Park, Princeton, N.J.-based CB Richard Ellis Realty Trust became the latest institutional investor to use the economic downturn as an opportunity to gain a foothold in the Raleigh-Durham market.

CBRE's portfolio includes 53 properties, mostly warehouse, industrial and office, located in markets across the country.

Although CBRE investors own 11 properties in Charlotte, the three buildings that it bought at Perimeter Park near Research Triangle Park more than double its its holdings here.

The buildings were purchased as part of a joint venture formed in 2008 between CBRE and Duke.

That joint venture has thus far purchased 13 properties, although the Perimeter Park deal is the first one where assets have been acquired outright from Duke Realty. (The joint venture is 80 percent owned by CBRE.)

Chuck Hessel, director of investments for CBRE Realty Trust, said in a phone interview today that Raleigh's diversified economy that makes it less inclined to ups and downs.

"It's a market that's really been dynamic over the medium and long-term," Hessel said.

"You look at some of the other markets nearby. Charlotte is a very financial-industries focused market. If you go further south you get something like Atlanta which is very boom-bust. Raleigh has been a sort of steady performer. With its mix of finance and tech; it's a market we like to have in our portfolio."