As Season 2 of the Real Estate Forum Podcast comes to a close, we’re proud to share a recap of a season filled with timely conversations and insights from some of the real estate industry’s most influential leaders and innovators. Hosted by Raphael Sidelsky '99BUS, the season explored the ideas, strategies, and trends shaping the future of real estate across global markets.

This season featured conversations with Hossein Fateh (CHQ), Anar Chudgar (Artemis Partners), Meredith Marshall '92BUS (BRP), Keith Breslauer (Patron Capital), David O'Reilly '01BUS (Howard Hughes), Lauren Hochfelder (Morgan Stanley), and Gregorio Schneider '96BUS (TC Latin America Partners).

Across investment, development, leadership, and global market strategy, guests shared perspectives on navigating today’s evolving real estate landscape and the opportunities shaping the industry ahead.

Hosted by Raphael Sidelsky, this episode features Gregorio Schneider, Chief Investment Officer at TC Latin America Partners and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Business Finance Division at Columbia Business School. Gregorio shares his career journey from banking in Mexico to building a leading investment platform focused on industrial, logistics, and infrastructure opportunities across Latin America. Together, they explore how USMCA, labor costs, and regional supply chain shifts are driving manufacturing and logistics growth throughout Mexico.

The conversation dives into key industrial markets including Monterrey, Tijuana, Juarez, and Mexico City, highlighting market dynamics such as vacancy rates, infrastructure constraints, and sector-specific growth. Gregorio also explains how investors are adapting strategies in today’s market cycle through build-to-suit developments, stabilized asset acquisitions, and long-term nearshoring plays. The episode concludes with insights on tariffs, automation, currency impacts, and why regionalization between the US and Latin America could shape the future of industrial real estate.

Read Gregorio's featured viewpoint "The Southern Border and the Nearshoring Debate" on the Paul Milstein Center for Real Estates website here: https://business.columbia.edu/insights/milstein-center/southern-border-and-nearshoring-debate

00:00 – Introduction & Gregorio’s Market Perspective

27:51 – Adapting Strategy Through the Real Estate Cycle

28:32 – Demand Pipeline & USMCA Uncertainty

29:13 – Build-to-Suit Return Profile Explained

30:41 – Cash-on-Cash Returns & Exit Cap Rates

31:43 – Currency Risk & Dollar-Denominated Structures

32:23 – Automation, AI & the Future of Manufacturing

33:41 – Regionalization vs. Globalization

34:39 – Compression of U.S.–Mexico Cap Rate Spreads

35:19 – Book Recommendation: “The Globalization Myth”

36:00 – Life Philosophy, Running & Real Estate Cycles

36:46 – Closing Remarks & Additional Resources

Lauren Hochfelder, Managing Director and Head of Global Real Assets at Morgan Stanley, joins Raphael Sidelsky to share insights from her 25-year career in real estate and investment banking. Lauren discusses her journey from studying ethics, politics, and economics at Yale to leading Morgan Stanley’s global real estate, infrastructure, and credit businesses. She explores key real estate investment themes, including demographic-driven senior housing, industrial demand fueled by e-commerce, and global opportunities in markets like Japan. Lauren highlights the value of institutional memory, rigorous research, and collaborative team culture in making informed investment decisions. The conversation also touches on balancing a demanding career with family life and how real estate continues to serve as a hedge against inflation, even amid evolving market dynamics.