Niche sectors are gaining more and more share of the institutional real estate portfolio pie, but the sector is not monolithic. Each property type has nuances of which investors should be aware, according to Michael Hudgins, senior managing director of research with Hines, in an interview published in the November issue of Institutional Real Estate Americas.
“We like to think about niche sectors as complementary to specific traditional sectors,” says Hudgins. “Office complements would be life sciences and medical offices. Apartment complements run across a broad range of senior living, student housing, single-family rentals [SFRs] and self-storage. Data centers and cold storage complement industrial.”
“Even with the compelling secular trends filling the sails for these niche sectors, investors still can’t just go buy whatever’s available and ride the wave. This is still real estate. You have to think carefully about the quality and location of t
