All Viewpoints

For a data center investor, a signed lease with a major technology company is a powerful selling point. The tenant has deep pockets, demand for computing capacity is growing, and access to power limits competing supply. Put those features together, and a new campus can look like an unusually attractive real estate investment.

What a decade of school redistricting tells us about multifamily performance.Michael Steinberg ’18Senior Director of Real Estate Investment Strategy and Research, MetLife Investment Management Christopher W. MunsellGlascock Associate Professor of Professional Practice of Real Estate Development Finance, Columbia University 

The most important real estate question of the next decade isn't where people will live. It's where AI will live.Zach Aarons '13Co-Founder & General Partner, MetaProp

Real estate investment firms treat today's capital-raising challenge as a fundraising problem; at its core it is a differentiation problem. Capital takes longer to raise, more of it flows to the largest platforms, and many mid-sized managers sound alike to LPs: disciplined sourcing, operational value creation, data-driven underwriting, repeatable process. Nearly every firm is experimenting with AI. The question is whether they will use it for productivity alone, or to create proprietary insights that improve capital allocation.Donal Warde '19Founder & Principal, Folio Strategy Partners

Rising redemption pressures in parts of the private credit market, alongside growing attention from regulators and market participants, have brought renewed focus to questions of financial stability.

In public markets, the identity of the marginal buyer is usually a footnote. If one investor steps away, another one shows up, without much impact on the price. Commercial real estate (CRE) does not work that way. Stijn Van NieuwerburghEarle W. Kazis and Benjamin Schore Professor of Real Estate, Finance Division Neel ShahPhD Candidate, Finance Division

AI agents are revolutionizing real estate dealmaking.by Andrew SiahCo-Founder & CEO of New York AI Labs

On April 22, 2025, the Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate hosted an insightful panel moderated by center co-director Professor Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, featuring industry leaders Nasir Alamgir (Barings), Richard Cantor (Moody’s Investor Services), and Catherine Chen (Apollo Global Management). Below we summarize key insights on the evolving relationship between insurance companies, private equity (PE) asset managers, and commercial real estate lending that emerged from the panel discussion.

Professor Parinitha (Pari) Sastry is an assistant professor of finance at Columbia Business School. Her research focuses on climate change, financial intermediation, and real-estate markets. She received her B.A. from Columbia University and her finance Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has worked previously at the Department of Treasury, Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures, Brookings Institution, and New York Fed. 

There is a lot of chatter in the housing world right now about what the Trump administration’s plans are with respect to housing policy, but one thing is clear - there has not been this much attention paid to housing and this much potential for favorable housing legislation and deregulation in a long time.  This is the first time the President has been a lifelong real estate developer who appreciates the challenges of regulation and who is a big believer in private sector engagement.  Recent reports that the Trump Administration is seeking significant cuts to the HUD workforce have engendered concern from some Democrats, but in my view, the environment for positive change will not get better than it is right now. Time is of the essence.