When Harrison Street first started investing in so-called “alternative” property sectors 17 years ago, there wasn’t a lot of competition. Frankly, a lot of investors were wary of the ability to find institutional-quality assets, not to mention sufficient liquidity for exit strategies. These days, given the historical success of alternative sectors, there is a lot more focus, attention and capital directed at niche assets, such as student housing, storage, senior housing, life sciences and data centers.

“We feel fortunate to be in a strategy that provides stability and resilience, and where the demand profile is less correlated to the general economic conditions,” says Joey Lansing, global head of portfolio management and strategy at Harrison Street. “During great economic times, we’re not necessarily looking to outperform. But in tough environments like we have been in with scarcity of debt capital, we’re still getting projects financed and finding our way to