The PERE Podcast

‘To pause or not’: Tariffs force the private real estate sector to decide

Property investors gained some relief on Wednesday when US president Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on his administration’s sweeping “Liberation Day” tariff hikes, but the outlook for global real estate markets remains anything but certain.

As the prospect of a US-China trade war looms, private real estate managers and investors have been forced to reassess short-term business while adapting their longer-term strategies to a changing risk environment. But in times of volatility, there are also opportunities.

On this episode, Greg Dool sits down with Jonathan Brasse, Evelyn Lee and Samantha Rowan to break down how market participants have responded to an unpredictable few weeks and what it all means for investment in the property sector moving forward.

Why Ares, Goldman and Blackstone are charging back into retail real estate

Retail’s real estate resurgence is in the spotlight again as a pair of massive private-equity-backed deals target neighborhood shopping centers across the US. On the heels of Blackstone’s $4 billion take-private deal involving 93 grocery-anchored strip malls, fellow investment giants Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Ares Management are getting in on the action as well.

As PERE reported last week, Goldman and Ares provided equity backing for Atlanta-based RCG Ventures’ $1.8 billion acquisition of a 100-asset shopping center portfolio from listed real estate investment trust Global Net Lease.

Taken together, the two deals represent the transfer of nearly $6 billion-worth of US retail properties from publicly traded REITs to private investment vehicles, and they signify a major comeback for a property sector that had been largely exiled from institutional portfolios.

On this episode, PERE Americas editor Greg Dool is joined by PERE Credit editor Samantha Rowan and PERE Deals editor Guelda Voien to explore the numerous layers to the RCG, Ares and Goldman deal and shine a light on retail’s renaissance more broadly.

C-PACE hits a $10bn milestone as real estate navigates ESG backlash

Against a backdrop of existential challenges to the decarbonization agenda in both the US and Europe, the 10th episode of The PERE Podcast examines whether the real estate industry is, as a consequence, shying away from its sustainability commitments.

Listen as Lucy Scott, deputy editor of Real Estate Capital Europe; Randy Plavajka, deputy editor of PERE Credit; and Guelda Voien, editor of PERE Deals, break down how market forces are working to overcome an era of ESG backlash.

In conjunction with PERE Credit's in-depth look this week at the latest issuance data for C-PACE – a form of finance for decarbonization upgrades in the US that is rapidly evolving – we ask whether this is likely to change in the current political climate. We then turn to Europe to discuss whether changes to key sustainability regulations are tempering ambitions to future-proof assets and mitigate the impacts of the climate crisis.

Also read:

• Decarbonisation remains critical despite ESG backlash, say managers
• Real estate ESG professionals feel lost and burned out
• Real estate's 'mind blowing' climate financing need and other Cop29 takeaways

‘The pensions want in’: What Jadian’s $2bn fundraise suggests about niche strategies

Achieving fundraising targets and substantially growing capital commitments from one vehicle to the next have become rare feats for private real estate managers, especially those lacking lengthy track records to fall back on. So when an emerging manager not only outraises its initial target by over 40 percent, but also quadruples the size of its predecessor vehicle, it is well worth a closer look.

The latest episode of The PERE Podcast does just that, shining a light on PERE's exclusive report about Connecticut-based manager Jadian Capital lining up over $2 billion for its second opportunistic real estate fund – as PERE exclusively reported Friday – more than triple the size of the manager's inaugural vehicle, which it closed on $650 million in 2020.

Listen as PERE senior reporter Harrison Connery breaks down Jadian's massive fundraise in conversation with PEI real estate group editor-in-chief Jonathan Brasse and PERE Americas editor Greg Dool, including insights from Jadian founder Jarrett Cohen on the manager's unique deployment strategy and why it resonated with institutional investors.

Also read: "Jadian Capital lines up $2bn for second fund, 40% above target"

MIPIM 2025: Geopolitical volatility could benefit European real estate

The annual MIPIM conference in Cannes is an important barometer of sentiment for the global real estate market. This year, seven of PERE’s journalists held a combined 100 meetings with leading managers in the real estate industry, spanning both the equity and debt markets.

This access to a wide concentration of viewpoints provided the team with insight into how industry stakeholders are really thinking about capital raising and debt availability, as well as their strategies for survival in a climate of continued political and economic volatility.

So, what did this year’s MIPIM tell us about the market that we didn’t already know? Listen as Lucy Scott, deputy editor of Real Estate Capital Europe, compares notes with PERE EMEA editor Charlotte D’Souza, PERE Credit editor Samantha Rowan and REC Europe editor Daniel Cunningham.

Also read:

• PERE Credit: No black swans this time but macro fears temper optimism at MIPIM
• PERE Deals: MIPIM 2025: Beds, sheds and hand-on assets appeal most

'This is the moment to act': KKR, Blackstone and the race to snap up UK REITs

American private equity has been storming into the UK-listed property sector this month with a series of takeover bids.

On Monday, KKR and New York-based Stonepeak intensified their pursuit of London-listed healthcare real estate investment trust Assura, with the two managers advancing a £1.6 billion ($2.1 billion; €1.9 billion) cash offer.

Meanwhile, Blackstone and Sixth Street sweetened their offer for London-based Warehouse REIT with a £470 million bid that was again rebuffed by the industrial investor. And on Tuesday, US-listed nursing home investor CareTrust REIT struck an $817 million agreement to acquire UK-listed Care REIT.

What do these three developments, each of which involve US investors hunting publicly traded UK sector specialists, say about the state of the global real estate investment market? Listen as Jonathan Brasse, Evelyn Lee and Randy Plavajka break it all down on the latest episode of The PERE Podcast.

Back leverage is changing the game for alternative debt funds

On the heels of Real Estate Capital’s deep-dive analysis of the emergence of back leverage in European property markets, a new episode of The PERE Podcast looks at how this form of finance will reshape the way real estate debt funds provide loans on the continent.

A common feature of the US market for some years, the increasing use of back leverage by banks and alternative lenders in Europe is not merely a trend, “but a structural shift in how commercial real estate debt is conceived and executed,” according Jessica Qureshi, an associate at Knight Frank Capital Advisory and author of a February research report on the topic.

How, exactly, does back leverage work, and what does its increased adoption mean for global real estate debt markets? Listen in as Real Estate Capital editor Dan Cunningham, PERE Credit editor Samantha Rowan and PERE Credit deputy editor Randy Plavajka break it all down.

'Scale matters': Apollo's Bridge deal shakes up the debt and equity markets

Apollo Global Management’s agreement to acquire Utah-based Bridge Investment Group, announced earlier this week, is set to create a $110 billion combined real estate platform, growing Apollo’s AUM in the sector by 40 percent. This is a step change for the manager, helping it to scale its equity business – which focusses on residential and logistics – to its existing and sizeable credit business. The firm now has a suite of real estate capital solutions – but in today’s real estate equity and credit markets, why is this important?

In this episode, Greg Dool, PERE’s America’s editor; Sam Rowan, editor of PERE Credit; and Dan Cunningham, editor of Real Estate Capital Europe, take a look at the deal and explore why managers are seeking not just scale, but breadth of offering.