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A secondary market for shares in German real estate special funds (Spezialfonds) is emerging, and it is starting to matter, not only for German institutions that are managing legacy allocations, but also for international investors looking for a faster, cheaper way into German property, writes Jan-Peter Schmidt, head of private markets at Fondsbörse Deutschland.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has moved beyond experimentation in real estate investment, and the question is no longer whether AI will reshape investment management but how firms are putting it into practice. AI is reshaping internal investment research, operations, portfolio management and decision making, as well as transforming how managers organize information, analyze data and build on institutional knowledge.

After years of capital shifting toward secondary markets, international gateway markets are once again drawing attention from investors worldwide.

New supply has remained difficult to deliver. As a result, the strongest opportunities have increasingly emerged where durable demand has been supported by structural constraints on future supply.

Core is no more. Or at least, it is not what it was a decade back. That change is both a blessing and a curse. There is greater sophistication among investors, and an expanding pool of subsectors that could classify in the asset class. But today’s core also requires more intensive analysis of segments that are often operationally complex.

Extra Space Storage has named Noah Springer, president, the company’s next CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2027. Current CEO Joe Margolis will retire at the end of the year and serve as an adviser to Extra Space Storage’s board of directors.

Clarion Partners has sold One Marina Park Drive, a 494,938-square-foot, Tier 1 office tower in Boston's Seaport District, for $435 million to Oxford Properties.

Urban Story Ventures is planning a $350 million retail and residential district within the Bend, a mixed-use development in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Vistry Group has been reconfirmed as a Strategic Partner and has secured a significant direct grant award under the first allocation of funding made available as part of the government’s £39 billion ($53 billion) Social and Affordable Homes Program.

Aberdeen Investments is seeking investor approval to combine the abrdn Real Estate Fund (aREF) and the abrdn Real Estate Feeder Fund with the abrdn Global Real Estate Fund (GREF), creating a flagship global hybrid real estate fund with more than £700 million ($954 million) in assets.

Matt Noland has joined Noble Investment Group as director, capital markets.

Nuveen and Nuveen Green Capital (NGC), a Nuveen affiliate and provider of sustainable commercial real estate financing solutions with more than $6 billion in AUM, have held a first close.

Alterra IOS has acquired five IOS properties in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Collectively, the new properties comprise 32 usable acres and more than 145,700 square feet of accompanying warehouse space, bringing Alterra’s total portfolio across the Atlanta metro area to 28 properties spanning 190 usable acres.

Harrison Street Asset Management (HSAM) has sold Stoneybatter Place, a purpose-built student housing community in Dublin, to asset manager Commerz Real.

Newmark has arranged a $277 million construction loan on behalf of a joint venture between Urby and Rockpoint for 201 Hudson — by Urby, a 748-unit multifamily development planned on the Jersey City, N.J., waterfront.

J.P. Morgan Asset Management has identified six investment themes it expects to shape the U.S. commercial real estate market through the remainder of 2026 and into 2027 and 2028, according to its 2026 Mid-Year Outlook: U.S. Commercial Real Estate.

It appears Texas is taking a page from New York state’s book in its approach to new data center development.

Kern County (Calif.) Employees Retirement Association (KCERA) has committed $160 million to real estate funds, including strategies managed by Hines, TPG Angelo Gordon and Hudson Bay Capital Management.

Resolving enterprise-level data is still an imperative. But it is not among the most immediate hurdles institutional real estate needs to clear to become profitably AI-native. There are three bigger challenges in the field, and all are resolvable if firms approach AI investment with the same discipline they bring to real estate investment: namely, a clear thesis and a focus on measurable returns.

The San Joaquin County (Calif.) Employees’ Retirement Association (SJCERA) has committed $75 million to Hines Rialto Credit Partners.