Mitra Ghamsari and the principals channelling institutional capital into Europe's branded residence boom

Branded residences in Europe now command a 38% premium, and a new wave of principals is positioning to capture that spread

The branded residences sector globally is expected to reach 910 schemes by the end of 2025, reflecting 19% year-on-year growth, according to Savills. In Europe specifically, branded properties command a brand premium of 38% over comparable non-branded assets, up from 29% the previous year, according to the Savills Branded Residences Europe 2026 report. These figures frame the backdrop against which Mitra Ghamsari, founder and CEO of Persepolis Investments, has built a Madrid-based boutique investment management firm focused on luxury residential and hotel assets in Spain.

Ghamsari represents a generation of emerging principals who are bridging institutional capital into segments of European real estate that have historically been dominated by private wealth and family offices. Her firm's focus on luxury flipping and branded residences in Southern Europe, particularly Madrid and coastal Spain, places Persepolis Investments at the intersection of two powerful currents: the structural repricing of Spanish prime real estate and the rapid institutionalisation of the branded residence asset class across the continent.

Who is Mitra Ghamsari and what is Persepolis Investments?

Mitra Ghamsari is the founder and CEO of Persepolis Investments, a boutique investment management firm headquartered in Madrid, as reported by Hospitality Investor in October 2025. The firm concentrates on luxury residential and hotel assets in Spain, with a particular emphasis on branded residences and curated lifestyle properties.

Ghamsari has noted that Europe currently lacks standardisation in branded residences, a gap she views as a major opportunity for institutional capital. While the branded residence model is well established in markets such as Dubai and Miami, European operators and developers have yet to converge on uniform standards for service delivery, brand partnerships, and asset management. This fragmentation creates room for principals who can bring institutional rigour to an otherwise fragmented market.

Persepolis Investments' strategy centres on curating experiences, wellness, and culture rather than simply delivering square metres. This positioning reflects a broader shift in the luxury segment: buyers are increasingly driven by lifestyle considerations rather than residency perks, a trend that has accelerated since regulatory changes to Spain's residency framework.

The branded residence pipeline in Europe underscores the scale of this opportunity. The number of branded residence projects across the continent is expected to surpass 300 by 2032, representing a 113% increase from the 141 completed projects recorded in 2026, according to Savills. Principals who establish track records in this cycle stand to benefit from a significant expansion of the investable universe.

How is Spain's regulatory shift reshaping the luxury buyer profile?

One of the most consequential regulatory developments affecting Spain's luxury real estate market is the abolition of the so-called Golden Visa route for real estate investment. Organic Law 1/2025 repealed Articles 63 through 67 of the 2013 legislation, officially ending the €500,000 real estate investment pathway for Spanish residency. The law took effect on 3 April 2025.

This regulatory change has meaningful implications for the composition of demand in Spain's prime and super-prime segments. The elimination of the visa-driven buyer removes a cohort whose primary motivation was residency access, leaving a pool of purchasers oriented toward lifestyle and pure investment returns. For operators like Persepolis Investments, this represents a qualitative improvement in the buyer base, as lifestyle-motivated purchasers tend to prioritise quality, brand affiliation, and experiential value over minimum investment thresholds.

Alternative residency routes remain available. Law 28/2022, Spain's Startup Law, provides the Digital Nomad Visa framework, which continues to offer a residency pathway for remote workers earning at least 200% of Spain's minimum wage, approximately €2,849 per month in 2026. However, this route targets a different demographic segment and does not replace the capital inflow previously associated with Golden Visa real estate purchases.

The net effect is a market that selects for higher-conviction buyers. Foreign nationals completed a record number of property purchases across Spain in 2025, according to Bravos Estate, suggesting that demand remains robust even without the Golden Visa incentive. This resilience reinforces the thesis that Spain's luxury market is supported by structural rather than regulatory tailwinds.

Madrid's price trajectory and the prime market outlook

Madrid remains the most expensive city in Spain for real estate, with city-wide average prices rising 20.9% year-on-year in Q4 2025, according to data from Dream Properties International and Spain's Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE). This pace of appreciation reflects both domestic demand dynamics and sustained cross-border capital flows into the Spanish capital.

Looking ahead, prime properties in Spain's most sought-after locations are expected to see price increases of up to 10% in 2026, according to Bravos Estate and industry reports. Dils Lucas Fox projects that Spanish prime and super-prime real estate markets will see price rises of 3–6% and 6–10% respectively over the same period. These forecasts suggest a deceleration from the exceptional growth rates of 2025, but continued positive momentum that supports investment activity.

For principals operating in Madrid's luxury segment, the combination of strong price appreciation, a shifting buyer profile, and growing institutional interest in branded residences creates a favourable operating environment. The challenge lies in sourcing and executing deals in a market where competition for prime assets has intensified.

Why does Europe's branded residence gap matter for institutional allocators?

The lack of standardisation in Europe's branded residence market is both a risk and an opportunity for institutional capital. Standardisation enables scalability, benchmarking, and the kind of portfolio construction that institutional investors require. Its absence means that individual operators must create bespoke frameworks for brand partnerships, service delivery, and asset management, a process that demands deep market knowledge and strong relationships with luxury brands.

Ghamsari's observation that Europe lacks this standardisation resonates with a broader conversation taking place among institutional allocators at forums such as those convened by GRI Institute, where senior leaders in real estate and infrastructure regularly discuss the evolution of alternative asset classes and the conditions required for institutional adoption. The branded residence segment, despite its rapid growth, remains at an early stage of institutionalisation in Europe compared to more mature markets.

The 38% brand premium recorded by Savills in its 2026 European report provides a compelling value proposition. If operators can deliver consistent quality and brand alignment, the premium justifies the additional complexity of branded development. The projected 113% increase in European branded residence projects by 2032 suggests that the market is moving toward the critical mass needed for institutional participation.

Principals who can demonstrate repeatable execution in this segment, combining local market expertise with institutional-grade governance, will be well positioned to attract capital from pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and other large allocators seeking exposure to European luxury real estate.

The emerging principal model in European real estate

Mitra Ghamsari's trajectory illustrates a broader pattern in European real estate: the emergence of boutique principals who combine sector specialisation with cross-border capital relationships. These operators fill a gap between large-scale institutional platforms and purely local developers, offering allocators access to niche strategies that may be difficult to replicate at scale.

GRI Institute's network of senior real estate leaders across the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, and Portugal provides a platform where these emerging principals engage with established institutional investors, creating the relationships that underpin cross-border capital deployment. The conversations facilitated within this network reflect a growing recognition that European real estate's next cycle will be shaped by principals who bring specialised knowledge to underserved or rapidly evolving segments.

The branded residence opportunity in Spain, supported by strong price fundamentals, a maturing regulatory environment, and growing cross-border demand, represents one such segment. Principals like Ghamsari, who combine local execution capability with an understanding of institutional requirements, are well placed to bridge the gap between available capital and investable product.

As the European branded residence market moves toward greater scale and standardisation over the remainder of this decade, the principals who establish credibility in this cycle will define the competitive landscape for years to come. The data supports their thesis: premiums are rising, supply is expanding, and the buyer profile is evolving in favour of quality-driven, lifestyle-oriented demand. The question for institutional allocators is whether to wait for standardisation or to partner with the principals building it.