Real Estate, Automation and Institutional Legibility: The Thesis Driven View
Thu Jan 22 2026
“You could automate most of property management today. The real constraint is not technology.”
Brad Hargreaves joins the ESG in Property Podcast to explain where real estate is actually changing, and where it isn’t.
Drawing on his experience building and exiting General Assembly and scaling Common into a multi-city co-living platform, Brad breaks down how operating models, capital requirements, and demographics are reshaping asset performance beneath the surface.
The discussion focuses on why sector labels like “office” or “residential” are losing meaning, how institutional capital really decides what is investable, and why value is often created by turning fragmented, non-institutional assets into scalable product.
Brad also explains where AI is already outperforming humans in leasing and collections, why development remains resistant to automation, and how efficiency gains introduce new risks such as rental application fraud.
This episode is a practical framework for understanding how real estate economics and operating assumptions are shifting now, not in theory.
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“You could automate most of property management today. The real constraint is not technology.” Brad Hargreaves joins the ESG in Property Podcast to explain where real estate is actually changing, and where it isn’t. Drawing on his experience building and exiting General Assembly and scaling Common into a multi-city co-living platform, Brad breaks down how operating models, capital requirements, and demographics are reshaping asset performance beneath the surface. The discussion focuses on why sector labels like “office” or “residential” are losing meaning, how institutional capital really decides what is investable, and why value is often created by turning fragmented, non-institutional assets into scalable product. Brad also explains where AI is already outperforming humans in leasing and collections, why development remains resistant to automation, and how efficiency gains introduce new risks such as rental application fraud. This episode is a practical framework for understanding how real estate economics and operating assumptions are shifting now, not in theory.