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The Big Take

Blackstone’s $70 Billion Real Estate Fund for Retail Investors Is Losing Steam

A retail boom that supercharged private equity and real estate is slowing, challenging one of the firm’s most ambitious efforts.

The Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas — The Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas
Photographer: Roger Kisby/Bloomberg

By

John Gittelsohn

November 3, 2022, 12:22 AM UTCUpdated onNovember 3, 2022, 3:49 PM UTC

In just over five years, a Blackstone Inc. real estate fund for small investors has turned into a $70 billion force in the US economy.

It has swallowed up apartments, suburban homes, dorms, data centers, hotels and shopping centers. It owns Las Vegas’s lavish Bellagio hotel and casino; a 76-story New York skyscraper designed by Frank Gehry; and a sprawling Florida complex for interns working at the Walt Disney World Resort.