Blackstone’s BREP Europe VII has raised $7.1b of capital; COO talks current real estate market

Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe VII (BREP Europe VII) has raised $7.07 billion of committed capital, as of March 31, 2024, according to documents from the firm’s first quarter 2024 report.

Of that raised capital, a total of $632 million has been invested, while $6.5 billion remains available.

Discussing the current real estate market, Jon Gray, president and COO, said, “In real estate, we shared our view in January that commercial real estate values were bottoming, providing the foundation for an increase in transaction activity.”

Asked about his expectations for transaction volume in the real estate sector for the year, Gray answered, “We’ve seen a pickup in Europe in real estate as well, some of that relating to distress, and there’s very negative sentiment, even though the fundamentals on the ground are actually pretty good in our chosen sectors. And we’re seeing overall in Europe — I think there we’ll see rates come down more quickly