Institutional Real Estate, Inc.'s managing director Chase McWhorter interviewed Mason Waite of BKM and Brian Lessans of Kayne Anderson Real Estate in March 2026 about their newly formed joint venture focused on light industrial real estate. The partnership emerged from a shared focus on the sector, identified by Kayne for its strong downside protection, limited new supply, and growing demand. Introduced through mutual lenders, the firms aligned on a programmatic joint venture, with BKM distinguished by its specialized focus on light industrial properties, superior technology platform, and high-touch management approach. Waite and Lessans highlighted BKM's proprietary database (BKM Intel) and third-party tools like VTS, which provide deeper market insights than public sources such as CoStar and Green Street, particularly for smaller units under 5,000 square feet. The collaboration emphasizes metric-driven KPIs such as tenant retention, vacancy rates, and unit turnover, reflecting a shift from high-rent, low-vacancy strategies to disciplined execution in a higher-rate environment.