Brookfield Asset Management’s Andrew Burych, Sophie Fallman and Ankur Gupta (Photo: By Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
For Brookfield — a global alternative asset manager with more than $1 trillion in assets under management — Asia Pacific has emerged as one of its best-performing real estate regions. Real estate accounts for $356 billion of the firm’s global assets under management (AUM), with Asia Pacific and the Middle East together making up about US$40 billion ($51 billion).
“Regionalisation defines the landscape,” says Lowell Baron, CEO of real estate at Brookfield Asset Management in the company’s 2026 Investment Outlook. “We are seeing distinct trade clusters emerging across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific, with each developing its own ecosystem.” In its outlook report, Brookfield highlights several real estate sectors it believes are “particularly well-positioned to benefit from the convergence of strong fundamentals and areas of dislocation". These include housing, logistics and data centres, as well as hospitality.
Over the past year, companies have been rethinking where they manufacture, store and distribute goods, amid heightened geopolitical volatility and renewed uncertainty around tariffs.
“The same forces reshaping the global economy — technology, trade and power — are turning logistics and data centres into some of the most compelling real estate opportunities today,” adds Baron. “Digital infrastructure demand is redefining land valuations.”
Over the course of 2025, the firm completed two portfolio transactions totalling $873.4 million, significantly expanding its footprint across Singapore’s key logistics and manufacturing corridors (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
In Singapore, Brookfield’s recent investments reflect a deliberate portfolio-led strategy aimed at building scale, diversification and long-term resilience in logistics and industrial real estate — rather than a series of one-off asset acquisitions.
Over the course of 2025, the firm completed two portfolio transactions totalling $873.4 million, significantly expanding its footprint across Singapore’s key logistics and manufacturing corridors.
The latest deal, signed on Dec 15, saw Brookfield agree to acquire a portfolio of eight logistics and industrial properties for $338.1 million from ESR REIT. Spanning a total gross floor area of 2.4 million sq ft, the assets are strategically located across Jurong, Tuas, Pioneer and Paya Lebar — areas benefitting from proximity to ports, expressways and established industrial ecosystems.
Earlier, in August, Brookfield acquired three business park and high-tech industrial assets from Mapletree Industrial Trust for $535.3 million. The portfolio comprised two business parks and one high-tech industrial building, further strengthening Brookfield’s exposure to technology-enabled and knowledge-based occupiers.
Taken together, the two acquisitions reflect Brookfield’s preference for scaled portfolios with embedded diversification, allowing it to optimise asset management, tenant mix and capital deployment across market cycles.
“With Singapore’s strategic location, connectivity and infrastructure, we have high conviction that demand for prime logistics and industrial space will continue to grow, supported by long term government policies,” says Andrew Burych, managing partner and head of East Asia real estate at Brookfield Asset Management. “These investments underline our continued commitment to expanding our logistics and industrial platform across Asia Pacific.”
Brookfield’s acquisition of a portfolio of eight logistics and industrial properties from ESR Reit includes an industrial property on Jurong Port Road (Photo: Brookfield Asset Management)
Brookfield’s first major Asia Pacific investment was the acquisition of Australian construction giant Multiplex in 2007. However, the firm began scaling up its regional real estate investments from the mid-2010s, particularly after opening its Singapore office in 2014.
Burych, who joined Brookfield in 2010, previously worked in London and New York before setting up the Singapore office in 2014, where he now oversees the firm’s real estate business across East and Southeast Asia.
“We’ve spent a lot of time opening up new markets, including our entry into Singapore in 2025,” he says. “We’ve completed several large transactions over the past 12 months, and you’ll continue to see us build on those in the near term and over the next five years as we grow the business.”
While logistics remains a core focus, Brookfield is pursuing market-specific strategies across Asia Pacific and the Middle East. “We’re investing across logistics, living, lodging, office, high-quality technology parks, as well as alternatives such as student accommodation, seniors living and storage,” says Ankur Gupta, global chief investment officer and head of Asia Pacific and the Middle East for Brookfield’s real estate group in a media briefing in Singapore in the latter part of the year. “We’re also opening up new sectors, including rental housing in India and logistics-related infrastructure in the Middle East.”
India stands out within the region, underpinned by strong population growth and an estimated 350 million people expected to migrate to cities by 2050 — “one of the largest urban shifts in history”, says Baron in Brookfield’s outlook.
“As India’s working and middle class continues to expand and urbanise, there is a deep opportunity to provide institutional-quality rental housing in a market where around 70% of rental housing is still informally managed,” he adds.
According to Burych, Brookfield also continues to evaluate opportunities in the office sector. “We never really stopped looking at offices,” he says. “Fundamentals remain robust, supply is constrained in many markets, and rents are still growing. We will continue to invest, using very targeted strategies tailored to each market.”
In the near term, Brookfield sees the strongest growth opportunities in Singapore, Australia, Japan and India.
Brookfield’s portfolio acquisition from ESR Reit also includes a logistics property on Ubi Road (Photo: Brookfield Asset Management)
In South Korea, Brookfield has deployed significant capital across real estate, infrastructure and renewable power, and continues to see “exceptional opportunities” across logistics, office, data centre and residential sectors.
On Dec 30, Brookfield announced the completion of the sale of the Cheongna Logistics Centre, a 4.6 million sq ft facility in Incheon. The asset was reportedly acquired by KKR for KRW1 trillion ($884 million), marking the largest single-asset logistics transaction in South Korea to date.
“There continues to be strong demand for institutional-grade logistics assets in Korea, particularly from global investors attracted by the sector’s fundamentals and the strength of Korea’s economy,” says Burych.
Completed in 2022, the Cheongna Logistics Centre is fully occupied and generates stable cash flows. Tenants include South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang and convenience store chain Emart24.
During its ownership period, Brookfield executed several value-enhancing initiatives, including securing LEED Gold certification and completing a cold-to-dry conversion to meet evolving tenant requirements. “Our real estate portfolio in South Korea is performing strongly, and we look forward to making further investments in 2026,” Burych adds.
Brookfield’s acquisition of three business park and high-tech industrial assets from Mapletree Industrial Trust included The Strategy (pictured) and The Shynergy buildings at International Business Park (Photo: Brookfield Asset Management)
Australia stands out for Brookfield as a “living” market defined by structural undersupply and long-term demographic tailwinds. The population increase over the past decade — from 23.94 million in 2015 to 27.5 million — is equivalent to adding a city larger than Brisbane, says Gupta. “Yet the country has not built anywhere near that amount of real estate.” Starting from what Gupta describes as an “underbuilt” position, Brookfield sees “an exceptional growth runway ahead” across multiple sectors. In early December 2025, Brookfield and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC made a binding offer to acquire National Storage REIT for A$4 billion ($3.44 billion), taking Australia’s largest self-storage operator private. The transaction reflects Brookfield’s conviction in self-storage as a defensive subset of the living sector, benefitting from urban density and mobility.
Earlier in July, Brookfield acquired a 19.9% stake in Brisbane-based Cromwell Property Group from ESR Group, deepening its exposure to platform-led real estate management in the market.
Brookfield has also been ratcheting up its presence in purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA). It entered the sector in December 2021 through a joint venture with Citiplan, acquiring its first Melbourne site on Grattan Street opposite the University of Melbourne.
In August 2024, the platform expanded further with a 50% stake in Journal Student Living, targeting a A$1 billion PBSA portfolio with 2,500 beds under construction in Melbourne and Brisbane.
At the same time, Brookfield has demonstrated a willingness to exit an asset class when the opportunity arises. In June 2025, it sold its 10,000-unit Australian retirement village operator Aveo to Scape Australia’s The Living Company for A$3.85 billion, in a transaction involving 65 villages across four states.
“It was the largest direct real estate deal in Australia, and it was sold as a platform,” says Sophie Fallman, head of Asia Pacific for Brookfield’s Global Client Group. With a persistent housing shortage and rising demand from international students, Brookfield views purpose-built student accommodation and build-to-rent as the most effective ways to deploy capital into Australia’s living sector.
Asia Pacific hospitality is another standout segment for Brookfield. Japan, for example, has recorded a fourfold increase in tourist arrivals over the past 15 years, says Baron.
“Travel spending across the region is projected to grow at an 8.9% CAGR from 2025 to 2030, yet Asia Pacific remains significantly undersupplied,” he notes. “Hotel density relative to population is still far below that of the US.”
Brookfield’s hospitality investments in the region include India’s Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts for $738 million in 2019; a $2 billion investment in Hotel Gajoen Tokyo as part of a mixed-use development in 2025; and the acquisition of Hotel X Brisbane for A$90 million ($77.83 million) in late 2024.
While it remains early days, Brookfield sees “a huge opportunity” in Asia Pacific’s real estate markets as they continue to evolve, says Gupta.