Realcast: Impact focused funds, affordable London & Madrid, upping offices’ allure

In the spotlight this week:

Commerz Real’s climate impact fund reaches €1 billion while CBRE Investment Managers and Forum Mobility announces a $400 million dollar joint venture targeting electrification of heavy duty first mile transit from ports, demonstrating that substantial capital is moving towards vehicle electrification.

A flurry of post-Christmas activity has included the announcement of a £3.5 billion project in London’s docklands’ Silvertown area which will transform a derelict flour mill and provide over 6,500 new homes, half of which will be ‘affordable’.

Also in London, the city’s tallest mass timber building, constructed with 100% renewable materials, has opened.

Deals occurred in Europe too, where Spain’s Azora has invested €100 million in eight logistics assets. In Germany, student housing company International Campus Group, acquired five assets from Allianz Real Estate and CBRE Investment Management in one of the sector’s largest transactions of the last few years. Also in Spain, Axa IM Alts has gained planning consent for a 540-home affordable housing project in Madrid.

Beyond Europe, Patrizia and Mitsui announced a $1 billion target for a new infrastructure strategy in Asia Pacific region.

Meanwhile, in Ireland Power Capital has secured €240 million for solar projects.

A range of new research has been published in the last week: A study by Verdantix revealed that companies are stepping up investment in offices to encourage people to return to work with 60% intending to invest more in staff health and well-being; INREV, the European Association for Investors in Non-listed Real Estate Vehicles found that a quarter of investors plan to decrease their allocations to real estate globally between 2023 and 2024; new research from Knight Frank revealed that investment in the UK’s student accommodation market reached £7.2 billion in 2022.

There has been a flurry of people moves too: Will Rowson has joined Henley Investment Management; Colliers’ Luke Dawson has taken on an additional role as Global Capital Markets lead; and Patrick de Baat, head of sustainability at ASR Real Estate, has been welcomed to the editorial board of our own publication Real Asset Impact.

Click on the video to see the full discussion or listen to the podcast below.