Brave Ideas Season 15, Episode 2
This episode is made possible by ReturnSuite:
”Complex Cash Flow Modeling Simplified.”
Behind the €2B Acquisition Curtain
What happens when you apply a logistics-and-hospitality operating playbook to offices?
In this episode, Joaquin Castellvi Lopez, CoFounder & CIO of Stoneweg, joins Brave Corp CEO Caleb Parker and ReturnSuite Cofounder, Sam Gamble, live from MIPIM in Cannes to unpack Stoneweg’s headline-making takeover of Cromwell’s €3.9 B European platform and how an OpRE framework drives a £2B office portfolio buy.
Read the deal announcement before you press play.
Key Topics
Platform Acceleration: How Stoneweg absorbed Cromwell’s €3.9 billion European platform to reach ~€8 billion AUM overnight
Office as Experience: Stoneweg believes offices should live in “urban mixed-use, highly amenitized districts,” where workspace is “integrated into a full experience,” not treated as an island
Hospitality-Infused Offices: Leveraging hospitality and flex-living expertise—partnering with best-in-class operators and internal teams—to layer amenity-driven service bundles onto traditional leases
Leasing Flexibility: They’re layering mid-term leases, short-term flex and hospitality-inspired services on top of long-term covenants to create a hybrid income profile
District-Level Strategy: Their underwrite starts at the micro-market or district level, ensuring each asset fits into a broader ecosystem of retail, residential and leisure
Mixed-Use Districts: Focusing on how each office integrates into a 15–25 acre urban community—retail, residential and leisure synergies that attract the right customers
Asset Prioritization Roadmap: Zeroing in over the next 18 months on which properties need “smart capex” today, before scouting new acquisitions
Smart CapEx Discipline: Instead of “fancy lobbies or underutilized art pieces,” capex is focused on targeted amenities—wellness rooms, collaborative spaces, food & beverage activations and community programming—with a disciplined ROI lens
Long-Term Outperformance Thesis: Stoneweg’s conviction that OpRE-driven, district-scale offices will outperform European markets over time
Who Should Watch
Landlords, institutional investors, operators, brokers and PropTech founders seeking to:
Underwrite offices with both base-rent and service-stream revenue models
Reposition assets using a proven OpRE playbook
Leverage mixed-use masterplans for higher yield, footfall and customer stickiness
Behind the Scenes
💡 This episode is part of Brave Ideas Season 15, exploring brave ideas shaping the future of office real estate, Space-as-a-service, and workplace experience.
👉 Don’t forget to subscribe, like, and drop a comment with your take on this episode.
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