Alternative real estate assets, including niche property types like self-storage, student housing and medical office buildings, have long lived on the margins of commercial real estate investing. But as historically preferred property types like offices lose value, these specialized asset classes are gaining ground as investment targets. During the third quarter, investment in alternative property types spiked to $18.3B, making up 15% of total investment dollars, according to MSCI. Full-year data isn’t yet available, but capital markets experts say that the share of investment in alternative assets is expected to grow. “Every time you listen to an institutional investor share their best ideas for sector strategy, all you hear is data centers, student housing, self-storage, life sciences,” Michael Gordon, a partner and global chief investment officer at Harrison Street, told the Urban Land Institute. 
2023 was a difficult year for investment, but the atmosphere is likely to change in 2024 if the Federal Reserve follows through on its December commentary indicating that interest rate cuts could be in the cards this year.“Overall, there's an expectation that assuming the Fed does cut rates by… Read the full story here. | 
