📈 BREIT’s big comeback
💸 Home affordability gets tech’s attention
🥊 Worldwide Plaza office distress meets heavyweight litigation
🔧 Upcoming Workshops: AI in Architecture & Construction, Real Estate Finance 101
📚 Upcoming Courses: Capital Raising, Intro to Development

Data Viz of the Week: Institutions’ Marginal Role

Despite drawing much attention and criticism, institutional investors are a tiny part of the single family home market: in Q3'25, just 1.2% of all homes were purchased by investors who owned more than 100 homes.

Notably, they were dwarfed by small, mom-and-pop investors responsible for almost 20% of transaction volume. So while investors do play a role in the SFH market, the big boys have little impact.

Upcoming Thesis Driven Courses & Workshops

• 📣 LAST CALL - January 22: Workshop: AI in Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) Workshop (💻 Online): An interactive workshop for owners, operators, developers, architects, and builders exploring how AI is reshaping the AEC stack—from design to delivery - $499

• January 26: 5-Week Course: Fundamentals of Capital Raising (💻 Online): A 5-week bootcamp providing an insider’s guide to raising capital for real estate projects from individuals, family offices and institutional investors - $1,299

• January 28-29: Workshop: Real Estate Finance 101 Workshop (💻 Online): A two-day interactive workshop designed for founders, operators, and professionals who want to understand how real estate finance works—and learn to speak the language of developers, investors, and property owners - $499

• February 2: 5-Week Course: Fundamentals of Real Estate Development (💻 Online): A 5-week interactive bootcamp for aspiring real estate entrepreneurs that simulates the underwriting, design and financing of a local real estate project. - $1,299

Three Articles We Loved from Last Week

It’s not easy keeping up with everything. Here are three articles we loved from the past week that you may have missed:

1. (WSJ) BREIT Stages Comeback With Best Return in Three Years

   Blackstone’s BREIT (Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust) posted its strongest performance in three years, returning 8.1% in 2025, driven largely by rising value in data-center assets like QTS. The rebound contrasts with broader weakness in nontraded REITs and reflects investor appetite for long-duration real assets tied to tech demand.

2. (WSJ) Real Estate Tech Gets the Message: Focus on Affordability

   Real-estate technology investors are increasingly prioritizing home affordability-focused startups—from rent-to-own platforms to shared-equity and AI-enabled property management tools—in response to political pressure and high housing costs. Firms like Fifth Wall Ventures are backing companies focused on facilitating homeownership and addressing systemic cost barriers, even as institutional investment debates (including proposed limits on single-family institutional buying) shape market sentiment. 

3. (The Real Deal) How Worldwide Plaza Became a Legal Fight Among Real Estate Heavyweights

   A New York Supreme Court judge paused the planned UCC auction for Worldwide Plaza in Midtown—a distressed, 1.8 M SF office complex with nearly $940 million in senior CMBS debt—after SL Green and RXR sued to block the sale. Extell, which controls the mezzanine loan, wants to foreclose via auction, but other stakeholders argue the process isn’t commercially reasonable. The valuation collapse from ~$1.7 B to ~$345 M highlights ongoing office distress even among marquee assets.

Developer of the Week: Presidio Bay Ventures

Presidio Bay Ventures has completed 388 Cambridge, a 36,000-square-foot, three-story mixed-use office project in Palo Alto, California. 

Targeting LEED Platinum, the development includes 3,418 square feet of ground-floor retail, now partially leased to LFBA Studios and Arsicault Bakery. Designed by Brereton Architects with Adean Studios, the building emphasizes high-end finishes and spa-like amenities. Tenants also gain access to Presidio Bay’s nearby Springline Menlo Park campus.

You can read more about Presidio Bay Ventures on the Thesis Driven GP database here.

Know about a developer doing something cool? Reach out to [email protected] with the tip!

Investor of the Week: Franklin Mountain Investments

Franklin Mountain Investments is the family office investment platform of Western National Group, focused on long-term, value-oriented investing across real estate and operating businesses in the U.S. Backed by permanent, multigenerational capital, the firm targets opportunities where patient ownership, operational expertise, and thoughtful asset selection can generate durable, risk-adjusted returns rather than short-term financial engineering.

Within real estate, Franklin Mountain is active across a range of traditional and alternative property types, including boutique hotels, retail centers, lifestyle-oriented communities, senior living, industrial assets, and multifamily. The firm invests primarily through direct ownership and joint ventures, partnering closely with experienced operators and management teams. Its approach emphasizes high-quality locations, strong design and placemaking, and assets that benefit from demographic tailwinds and long-term demand, with a clear preference for aligned partnerships and steady cash flow over passive or highly levered strategies.

Get more details on Franklin Mountain Investments, including team contacts, deal activity, and investment preferences, inside the CapitalStack database.

—Brad and Paul