Astone Investments and the mid-market principals quietly assembling institutional real estate portfolios across Europe

European investment volumes signal a turning point for mid-market operators

European real estate investment volumes are expected to reach approximately €52 billion in Q1 2026, representing a modest year-on-year increase, according to Savills. Full-year volumes are forecast to climb by around 16% in 2026, with a further 17% growth anticipated in 2027 (Savills). Within that recovery, a distinct category of market participant is gaining influence: family office platforms and agile principals who deploy institutional capital through joint ventures and co-investment arrangements, operating below the radar of the largest fund managers yet capturing meaningful deal flow across the continent.

Astone Investments, a London-based family office platform, exemplifies this model. Led by Managing Director Ilan Azouri, the firm focuses on strategic joint ventures across European real estate sectors, including commercial, hotels, offices, logistics, and residential, according to GRI Institute and Companies House UK filings. While Astone does not publish headline AUM figures in the manner of listed fund managers, its positioning at the intersection of private capital and institutional-grade deal structures reflects a broader shift in how European real estate transactions are sourced and executed.

What is Astone Investments and how does it operate in European real estate?

Astone Investments functions as a family office platform with a preference for co-investment and joint venture arrangements. This structure offers longer investment horizons and greater flexibility than traditional institutional funds, enabling the firm to participate in transactions across multiple asset classes without the constraints of fixed fund mandates or rigid deployment timelines.

The firm's strategic focus spans commercial property, hotels, offices, logistics, and residential assets across Europe. Rather than competing directly with large-scale fund managers for trophy assets, Astone operates in the mid-market segment where deal complexity, relationship capital, and operational expertise often determine access to opportunities.

Ilan Azouri, representing the private side of European capital networks as Managing Director, has positioned the platform to capitalise on a market environment where income-led performance, rather than yield compression, is driving returns. This approach aligns with the broader European market transition observed throughout 2025 and into 2026, as the sector moves from a period of subdued deal volumes toward gradual recovery.

Family office platforms such as Astone occupy a distinctive niche. They combine the discretion and patience of private wealth with the analytical rigour and governance standards that institutional counterparties require. For counterparts seeking equity partnerships or co-investment capital, this combination can be more attractive than traditional fund structures, particularly for assets that require active management or repositioning over extended holding periods.

Who are the mid-market principals shaping European real estate capital flows?

The European mid-market real estate sector is witnessing the emergence of a cohort of principals who channel institutional capital into specific operational niches. These individuals combine sector expertise with capital access, acting as catalysts for transactions that might otherwise lack a natural sponsor.

Michael Abel, founder of Greykite Real Estate, represents one archetype within this landscape. Greykite partnered with StepStone Real Estate to acquire a majority stake in Spanish senior care provider Vitalia in a recapitalisation deal, according to Real Assets (October 2025). The transaction illustrates how mid-market operators are targeting the European 'Living' sector, encompassing senior housing, student accommodation, and residential care, where demographic tailwinds and operational complexity create barriers to entry for generalist investors.

Morgan Garfield, co-founder of Ellandi, offers another perspective on mid-market leadership. Garfield was appointed as the new Chair of the British Property Federation (BPF) Retail Board in March 2025, according to the British Property Federation. His elevation to a prominent industry governance role underscores how principals operating outside the largest global platforms are shaping policy conversations and market standards in European real estate.

David Gluzman, serving as a Senior Originator at Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG (pbb), represents the financing side of this ecosystem. As a leading European specialist bank for real estate financing, pbb provides the debt capital that enables mid-market transactions to proceed, according to GRI Institute. The interplay between principals like Azouri and Abel on the equity side and financing professionals like Gluzman on the debt side forms the connective tissue of European mid-market real estate.

These principals share several characteristics. They maintain deep networks across capital sources, operating partners, and advisory firms. They tend to favour specific asset classes or geographies where they possess differentiated expertise. And they structure transactions to align incentives between capital providers and operational managers, often through joint venture arrangements that distribute risk and reward more precisely than blind-pool fund structures.

The UK remains the anchor market for European capital deployment

The United Kingdom accounted for 30% of total European real estate investment volume in 2025, according to CBRE. This dominant share reinforces London's role as the primary gateway for cross-border capital entering European property markets and explains why platforms such as Astone Investments maintain their headquarters in the city.

For family office platforms and mid-market operators, the UK market offers several structural advantages: deep liquidity across asset classes, a transparent legal framework, and a broad pool of institutional counterparties for joint venture arrangements. The ongoing Law Commission review of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (Part II), which evaluates whether to retain, abolish, or modify the current contracting-out model for business tenancies in England and Wales, could further modernise the commercial leasehold framework. An interim statement was published in June 2025, with a second technical consultation expected in spring 2026.

Beyond the UK, continental European markets are attracting increasing attention from mid-market principals. Spain, as demonstrated by Greykite's Vitalia acquisition, offers opportunities in operational real estate sectors where institutional capital remains underweight. Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Portugal each present distinct risk-return profiles that favour operators with local expertise and flexible capital structures.

How will regulatory shifts affect mid-market investment strategies in 2026 and beyond?

The revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, Directive (EU) 2024/1275, represents perhaps the most consequential regulatory development for European real estate investors in this cycle. The EPBD mandates zero-emission buildings for new construction, introduces minimum energy performance standards for existing buildings, and targets a complete phase-out of fossil fuel boilers by 2040. Member States must transpose the directive into national law by May 29, 2026.

For mid-market operators, the EPBD creates both risk and opportunity. Assets that fail to meet minimum energy performance standards will face declining tenant demand and potential regulatory obsolescence, creating acquisition opportunities for investors with the capital and expertise to execute energy retrofits. Conversely, assets that already meet or exceed the new standards will command premium valuations and attract ESG-sensitive institutional capital.

Family office platforms like Astone Investments, with their longer investment horizons and flexible structures, are well-positioned to execute value-add strategies that incorporate energy performance upgrades. Joint venture arrangements can distribute the capital expenditure requirements of retrofitting across multiple partners while aligning incentives around measurable sustainability outcomes.

The convergence of regulatory pressure, evolving tenant requirements, and institutional ESG mandates is accelerating the flow of capital toward operators who can demonstrate both financial returns and environmental compliance. Mid-market principals who integrate EPBD compliance into their acquisition and asset management strategies will hold a competitive advantage as the directive's provisions take effect across EU member states.

A recovery shaped by principals, not platforms alone

Global real estate investment turnover is forecast to exceed US$1 trillion in 2026, roughly 15% above 2025, with EMEA expected to post the strongest relative growth at 22% to US$300 billion, according to Savills. Within that recovery, the distribution of capital is shifting. Large-scale fund managers will continue to dominate headline volumes, but the mid-market segment, where family office platforms, specialist operators, and agile principals compete, is capturing a growing share of total transaction activity.

The European real estate market's transition from yield compression to income-led performance favours investors who understand operational value creation. Principals like Ilan Azouri at Astone Investments, Michael Abel at Greykite Real Estate, and Morgan Garfield at Ellandi represent a generation of market participants who combine institutional discipline with entrepreneurial flexibility.

As discussions at GRI Institute gatherings consistently reflect, the most consequential capital allocation decisions in European real estate are increasingly being made by individuals and platforms that prioritise alignment of interest, operational expertise, and long-term value creation over asset-gathering scale. The mid-market principals assembling portfolios across Europe today are defining the contours of a market recovery that rewards conviction and capability in equal measure.

Members of GRI Institute's European network continue to engage with these themes through senior-level meetings and cross-border dialogue, where the strategic priorities of family office platforms, specialist operators, and institutional investors converge around the opportunities emerging in this new cycle.