Realcast: Resi deals to the fore, retail makes a comeback, city food farms, all on for MIPIM

In the spotlight this week:

Big news in the residential sector as Blackrock and Outpost form a joint venture to invest £500 million into UK resi and acquire the first asset in London’s King’s Cross/St Pancras district.

Rental resi specialist Greystar has sold its interest in a portfolio of 30 multi-family properties in the US to Ivanhoe cambridge for $3.6 billion.

And there’s good news for bricks-and-mortar retail. Following soon after its Meta rebrand, Facebook is in discussions to open physical stores around the world in order to sell virtual reality products. Research just published by CBRE investment management also points to physical retail making a comeback as shoppers baulk at the cost of e commerce and also its environmental impact.

In other research, following the launch of Emerging Trends in Real Estate Europe, ULI Europe’s CEO Lisette van Doorn, points out that paradoxically, while real estate professionals are currently optimistic about the sector but  also pessimistic about its prospects in a few years’time.

While COP26 has put the spotlight on the environment, Milan’s Bocconi University is to launch a lab to study and promote urban regeneration.

And, while Real Asset Insight was at COP 26 in Glasgow, Richard Betts visited ISG’s vertical farm in the heart of the city. In the news this week, ISG is also collaborating with Greenman Group on a similar vertical farm in Berlin.

There are positive signs for MIPIM with news that all of the major real estate brokers have committed to take stands at the event next March – Real Asset Insight will also be there with the International Investors Lounge which we have previously taken to Expo Real.

Click on the video above to watch the full interview or listen to the podcast below.