Riccardo Paganelli, Rishi Khurana, and the operator-principals reshaping European real estate returns

European real estate investment climbed to €241 billion in 2025, up 13% from the previous year, according to CBRE. Behind this headline figure, a quieter structural shift is underway. A cohort of operator-principals, individuals who combine capital allocation with direct asset management, is redefining how returns are generated across the continent. Riccardo Paganelli, Rishi Khurana, Morgan Garfield, and the late George Mantzavinatos represent distinct expressions of this model, each operating at the intersection of real estate and adjacent disciplines such as energy infrastructure, office repositioning, retail regeneration, and distressed asset resolution.

With Savills forecasting European real estate investment volumes to rise by around 18% in 2026, understanding the operational architectures these principals have built offers institutional investors a forward-looking map of where alpha is being created.

Who are the operator-principals driving European real estate's next cycle?

The term "operator-principal" describes a specific archetype in today's market: a dealmaker who does not merely deploy capital into assets but actively manages the transformation of those assets from the inside. This model stands in contrast to the passive fund allocation strategies that dominated the previous cycle. As capital costs have risen and traditional yield compression has stalled, the ability to create value through operational improvement, regulatory navigation, and cross-sector integration has become the primary differentiator.

Four individuals exemplify this approach across distinct geographies and asset classes. Their strategies, while varied, share a common thread: each treats operational complexity as a competitive moat rather than a cost centre.

Riccardo Paganelli: bridging real estate and energy infrastructure in Italy

Riccardo Paganelli, through Actarus Investments, operates at the convergence of real estate and renewable energy in Italy. His firm is bridging these two sectors via a biomethane project backed by Macquarie Capital and supported by Italian NRRP (National Recovery and Resilience Plan) incentives, according to GRI Institute reporting.

This positioning is significant for several reasons. Southern European real estate investment reached €27.4 billion in 2025, a 19% year-on-year increase, according to data from Cushman & Wakefield and GRI Institute. Italy, as a core component of that growth, is attracting institutional capital that increasingly demands assets with embedded infrastructure value. Paganelli's model of integrating energy generation into real estate portfolios responds directly to this demand.

The regulatory backdrop strengthens this thesis. The Italian NRRP provides structured incentives and funding designed to bridge real estate and energy infrastructure, creating a policy environment that rewards operators capable of navigating both sectors simultaneously. Meanwhile, ELTIF 2.0, the European Long-Term Investment Fund regulatory framework, is acting as the preferred wrapper for retail and institutional investors seeking access to "hard" assets like energy-integrated real estate, enabling cross-border capital pooling with tax transparency.

Paganelli's approach represents a category of dealmaking that requires deep local regulatory knowledge combined with the ability to structure transactions attractive to global institutional partners. The Macquarie Capital backing signals that tier-one infrastructure investors view this hybrid model as investable at scale.

Rishi Khurana: value-add office repositioning in central London

Rishi Khurana, operating through Purestone Capital, focuses on a different but equally operationally intensive strategy: the repositioning of office assets in central London. In partnership with BPS London, Purestone Capital acquired 80-85 Tottenham Court Road for £32.6 million, according to filings reported by Derwent London plc and The National Law Review.

The acquisition of a core West End asset at this price point reflects the value-add thesis that has become central to London's office market. Rather than acquiring stabilised assets at compressed yields, operators like Khurana target properties where capital expenditure, repositioning, and active management can unlock significant rental upside.

This strategy demands a fundamentally different skill set from passive capital allocation. The operator must assess refurbishment costs, manage planning and construction risk, navigate tenant demand in real time, and execute a leasing strategy that captures the growing premium tenants are willing to pay for high-quality, amenity-rich space. The Tottenham Court Road acquisition, situated in one of London's most connected office submarkets, illustrates the conviction required to deploy capital into assets that need transformation rather than mere ownership.

Khurana's deal flow positions Purestone Capital at the centre of a broader trend. As European investment volumes recover and the UK market attracts renewed cross-border interest, operationally capable buyers who can underwrite repositioning risk are commanding favourable entry pricing relative to stabilised core assets.

Morgan Garfield: retail regeneration and policy leadership in the UK

Morgan Garfield represents a third expression of the operator-principal model, focused on the regeneration of retail and community assets across the United Kingdom. NewRiver REIT acquired Ellandi, the firm co-founded by Garfield, for an initial £5 million, bringing NewRiver's total assets under management to £2 billion, as reported by Place North West.

The Ellandi model centres on taking underperforming retail assets, often community shopping centres, and revitalising them through active management, tenant remixing, and community engagement. This approach requires a granular understanding of local demographics, footfall patterns, and the evolving role of physical retail in an omnichannel economy. The acquisition by NewRiver validated this model at institutional scale.

Garfield's influence extends beyond transactions into policy. As Retail Board Chair of the British Property Federation, he has been advocating for amendments to the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 to streamline the commercial leasing process and support building decarbonisation. This dual role, active operator and policy advocate, illustrates how the most effective principals in today's market shape the regulatory environment in which they invest.

The ability to influence policy frameworks while simultaneously managing portfolios creates informational and structural advantages that pure capital allocators cannot replicate. Garfield's trajectory from operator to institutional partner to industry advocate traces a path that many next-generation principals are seeking to follow.

What role did George Mantzavinatos play in building today's distressed asset market?

George Mantzavinatos, a prominent figure in Greek and Cypriot non-performing loan (NPL) resolution and distressed asset management, passed away in May 2023. His contribution to the current European market cycle warrants recognition as foundational context.

Mantzavinatos was instrumental in developing the institutional frameworks and transaction structures that enabled the resolution of large-scale distressed portfolios in Southern Europe. The market infrastructure he helped build, including servicer platforms, due diligence protocols, and investor relationships, continues to underpin deal flow in the region today. The 19% year-on-year growth in Southern European real estate investment reported for 2025 owes a meaningful debt to the groundwork laid by operators like Mantzavinatos during the previous distressed cycle.

His legacy illustrates a broader truth about the operator-principal model: the value created by hands-on practitioners often outlasts individual careers, embedding itself in the institutional capacity of entire markets.

How does the operator-principal model reshape capital allocation in European real estate?

The common thread linking Paganelli, Khurana, Garfield, and Mantzavinatos is a conviction that operational intensity generates returns that financial engineering alone cannot. Each has built or is building a platform where domain expertise, regulatory navigation, and hands-on asset management serve as the primary engines of value creation.

For institutional investors evaluating European real estate allocations, this operator cohort signals a market environment where the choice of operating partner matters as much as the choice of geography or sector. The principals profiled here are generating returns through the direct transformation of assets, whether by integrating biomethane infrastructure, repositioning West End offices, regenerating community retail, or resolving distressed portfolios.

Spain offers an adjacent data point: CBRE projects that Spanish real estate investment will increase by between 5% and 10% in 2026, placing total volume between €19 billion and €21 billion. Markets with this growth trajectory will reward operators who can source, underwrite, and transform assets, not merely acquire them.

As discussions at GRI Institute events consistently highlight, the European real estate industry is entering a phase where capital is abundant relative to operational capability. The principals who possess both, the ability to raise capital and the skill to deploy it through direct asset management, will capture a disproportionate share of the value created in the next cycle.

The operator-principal is the defining archetype of European real estate's current transition. Understanding who these individuals are, and how they structure their platforms, is essential intelligence for any institutional allocator seeking risk-adjusted returns in a market forecast to grow 18% in 2026.