Park Madison’s executive committee shares what investors can expect in 2026, where capital is flowing and how higher interest rates are reshaping strategy.

Park Madison’s executive committee—Rob Kohn, Carrie Coulson Naik, Jack Koch, Brian Di Salvo, and John Sweeney—joins Nancy Lashine to break down the firm’s 2026 Outlook and what it signals for real estate investors navigating a slower, more disciplined market cycle.

The group explores how interest rates are forcing a reset in capital structures. With the return of transaction activity and improving price discovery, the discussion shifts to delving into why recapitalizations, continuation vehicles and secondaries are core features of today’s real estate markets.

[Jack, 00:14:22] “Real estate is cyclical. It goes up, it goes down. [Picture] you're a long-term institutional investor with a 30 to 50-year time horizon. The smoothing effects will take care of the overall long term return.”

The group also examines structural shifts shaping 2026: the barbell effect in fundraising, consolidation among middle-market managers, and growing investment in data centers, industrial outdoor storage and manufactured housing. 

[Rob, 00:20:37] “I think folks are waking up to the fact that one: interest rates are gonna be at the level they're at now for a little bit longer, and your underwriting has to work there. And two: you need to get money back to your investors. . . . Distributions, distributions, distributions.”

Taking a global perspective, they highlight why Asia is attracting incremental attention as U.S. political and economic uncertainty rises.

Grounded in data and firsthand market experience, the episode offers a 1000-foot view of where real estate is normalizing and where opportunity is emerging for patient investors.

Links

Park Madison Partners’ website

2026 Outlook report