There is a flurry of change underway at Blackstone’s real estate debt business, with new leaders in place for its flagship mortgage trust and its European property lending arm. As the pandemic ebbs, new opportunities are arising to lend the more than $9B (£6.4B) of dry powder that Blackstone’s $47B lending division has available. After the Global Financial Crisis, debt markets stayed frozen for more than two years. After the coronavirus-induced recession of the past 16 months, they are already liquid again. Leisure hotels, logistics and life sciences on both sides of the Atlantic are at the top of the list for new deals, Blackstone Mortgage Trust Chief Executive Katie Keenan and Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies European Head Steve Plavin told Bisnow. 
For Keenan, who has taken over from Plavin as chief executive of Blackstone’s listed $18B mortgage trust, the recovery in the U.S. economy as businesses reopen across the country is feeding through to increased real estate transaction activity, which in turn is leading to increased lending opportunities. “We had a big first quarter…  Read the full story here. | 
