Brookfield Wants $15 Billion for Real Estate Bet After Stumbles
The asset management giant is raising a new real estate fund while contending with a fundamental shift in property demand.
Toronto’s Brookfield Corp. is one of the world’s biggest owners of commercial property.
Photographer: Galit Rodan/BloombergAs downtown skyscrapers sat empty in the aftermath of the pandemic and central bankers were about to embark on the fastest pace of interest-rate hikes in a generation, the Canadian asset-management giant Brookfield doubled down on one of the bets that made its name: buying office buildings.
The firm’s property funds spent $7.2 billion on office real estate investment trusts in Germany, Belgium and Ireland in late 2021 and early 2022, decisions that sparked debate both internally and from some of its major investors, according to people with knowledge of the discussions. Yet the deals went through, in accord with Chief Executive Officer Bruce Flatt’s longtime playbook of buying seemingly undervalued assets and wagering they’d appreciate over time.