Newsline

More than half of the global population already lives in urban areas, a figure that will reach two-thirds by mid-century, the vast majority of that shift taking place in Asia and Africa. But what we want from a modern city has changed vastly in just a few decades.

The latest employment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) revealed signs of meaningful weakness in the labor market, with the unemployment rate climbing to 4.6 percent, the highest level since September 2021. It is up from the 4.4 percent reported in the previous month, in the most recent pre-shutdown data — and a weakening job market is set to have significant implications for investors in real estate, infrastructure and other real assets

Bain Capital Real Estate and 11North Partners have announced the close of a capital raise of up to $1.6 billion to invest alongside their co-owned, dedicated open-air retail-focused operating platform. 

Newmark Group has established its Korean flagship in Seoul, hiring a seasoned leadership team across multiple disciplines.

GARBE Industrial and ARTAR to establish a joint venture.

P-Three, the retail, leisure and placemaking agency, has been appointed by The City of London Corporation (CoLC) to transform the City’s iconic Leadenhall Market into London’s leading dining destination.

Forum Investment Group has appointed Jarvie Worcester as head of real estate.

LaTerra Capital Management, an affiliate of LaTerra Development, in partnership with Respark Residential, is under contract with AIMCO to acquire a 1,495-unit, seven-property multifamily portfolio located across key Chicago suburban submarkets including the cities of Evanston, Lombard and Elmhurst. The portfolio is being acquired at a purchase price of $455 million, with a closing targeted for the first quarter 2026. 

AmTrustRE has completed its $211 million acquisition of 260 Madison Avenue.

Nuveen views today as one of the most attractive commercial real estate credit environments in more than a decade. In an interview with IREI, Jason Hernandez, head of real estate debt, Americas, at Nuveen, explains the compelling relative value in the market, how investor allocations are shifting toward floating-rate senior loans, and what lending conditions could look like over the next 12–18 months.

Kering and Ardian have executed a joint venture agreement effective immediately regarding the Kering property located at 715-717 Fifth Avenue in New York City.

 Aberdeen Investments has made two real estate acquisitions: WORVE Yokohama Isezakicho, a newly completed build-to-rent property, alongside a portfolio of 29 residential properties across some of Tokyo’s most sought-after districts.

Slate Asset Management and Hamilton Lane has acquired a majority equity stake in Cold-Link Logistics, one of the ten largest privately-held cold storage platforms in North America.

Manova Partners, an international independent real estate investment firm based in Munich, has launched a new joint venture, giving institutional investors access to the Mexican industrial and logistics real estate market.

Royal London Asset Management Property has acquired Fradley Park in Lichfield, West Midlands, England.

Fairstead has made a $242 million acquisition and rehabilitation of Haverstock Hills Apartments.

DWS Group has acquired a state-of-the-art logistics park from PGIM and Panattoni in Berlin. Completed in 2023, the property is located in the Marzahn district and is based on Panattoni’s City Dock concept, designed to offer flexible property solutions in urban centers. The financial details of the transaction remain confidential. 

The United Kingdom pays one of the highest premiums in the developed world on its national debt, with the cost of servicing its existing debt rising more than a third since 2022. The bond market is increasingly scrutinizing all countries’ paths to fiscal sustainability as a condition for lending on reasonable terms. And the United Kingdom is no exception. A key condition underlying the importance of the recent budget is that the government continues to meet its fiscal rule of eliminating the current budget deficit by 2029–2030.

Affinius Capital and Kennedy Wilson have closed financing for the ground-up development of Harborside 8.

Institutional investors often see themselves as passive recipients of the technology their investment managers choose. They are the true end customers. Investment managers select, implement and operate the systems that ultimately influence how institutional capital is sourced, underwritten, monitored and reported. Since institutional investors are the customers of investment managers, they hold significant power to define the minimum standards for technology consideration, participation and engagement. They already do this in every other part of the manager selection process. They set expectations for reporting, compliance, governance, transparency and performance. The same influence can and should apply to the technology that underpins every workflow across the investment lifecycle. When institutions recognize this role, they unlock the ability to shape the technologies that will support more efficient processes and stronger fiduciary outcomes for decades to come.