Blackstone’s warehouse play challenges Prologis’ claim to the throne
February 3, 2020 | Rich Bockmann | Therealdeal.com
Long before windowless warehouses became a sexier investment than luxury condos, Prologis was king.
The San Francisco-based company bought up millions of square feet of industrial properties and built out a crack team of executives to run it – a platform that served the company well when the sector exploded thanks to e-commerce. But the industry leader’s claim to the throne is being challenged as the Blackstone Group, the world’s largest alternative asset manager, makes warehouse real estate a cornerstone of its global investment strategy.
“Prologis had that kind of exposure to industrial even at a time when Blackstone owned nothing,” said Dave Roders, an analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. who covers Prologis. “Lately though, Blackstone’s appetite and consumption of industrial assets has probably outpaced what [Prologis] has done.”
