Insight

First European CMBS deal of 2026 launches

The transaction will finance a Blackstone-owned logistics portfolio.

‘The market will not change overnight’: Recovery drags in 2026 as geopolitical strife persists

Hines’ David Steinbach joins The PERE Podcast to discuss real estate’s cautious outlook for the year ahead.

Loans in focus: Deutsche Bank provides €415m for Dublin scheme; SMTB issues £360m for London office; Ares backs Irish data centres

Deutsche Bank provides a €415 million loan to refinance Dublin’s former Irish Glass Bottle site; Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank provides a £360 million (€415 million) facility for a West End London office scheme and Ares issues Astra Partners with a €340 million facility to fund the construction of a data centre in Ireland. Plus: the latest additions to the Real Estate Capital Europe lending database; and more in our round-up of European loan deals over the past three weeks since our last update on 19 December.

Benefit Street Partners holds $3bn final close for flagship real estate debt strategy

The firm reached its hard-cap for BSP Real Estate Opportunistic Debt Fund II with 29 months of time logged fundraising on the road.

Peter Hansell leaves Nuveen

The real estate debt specialist is exploring other opportunities.

SMTB provides £360m development loan for 125 Shaftesbury Avenue

Owners Edge and Mitsubishi Estate London obtained planning for the project in April.

Look Ahead 2026: BayernLB’s Laura Williams says lenders should heed lessons from the past

The German bank’s head of real estate, London, says some lenders are pushing leverage and pricing too far to win deals.

Look Ahead 2026: OakNorth’s Ben Barbanel on unresolved refinancing challenges

Borrowers that do not have surplus capital will face problems, says the chief lending officer.

Top 25 of ’25: Back leverage leads REC Europe’s most read stories of the year

A strategic move into real estate debt and the retirement of an industry stalwart were also among our most popular stories.