Blackstone has made several senior leadership appointments within its real estate business, with Katie Keenan named chief executive and a director of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT) and global head of the Core+ Real Estate business.

She succeeds Wesley M. LePatner, who served in both roles until her passing on 28 July 2025.

Keenan currently serves as global co-chief investment officer of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies (BREDS) and chief executive of Blackstone Mortgage Trust (BXMT), which is a publicly-traded commercial mortgage REIT managed by a subsidiary of Blackstone.

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According to Blackstone, Keenan helped grow the BREDS platform to its current size of $77bn (£57.1bn). 

“BREIT is incredibly well-positioned and I am looking forward to working with the team to capitalise on the ongoing real estate recovery, with new supply falling sharply, the cost of debt capital coming down, and transaction activity picking up,” said Keenan.

Tim Johnson succeeds Keenan as chief executive of BXMT, and will continue as the global head of BREDS and chair of BXMT’s board.

Johnson, who has been with Blackstone since 2011, has expertise spanning the firm’s commercial real estate credit investment strategies.

“I’ve had the honour of serving as BXMT’s chair and I am looking forward to building on BXMT’s momentum, including $2.6bn in new investments last quarter and a nearly 20 per cent year-to-date total return,” he said. 

“The team’s breadth and creativity enable us to source investments across channels and markets, unlocking value during a particularly compelling period.”

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Blackstone has appointed Zaneta Koplewicz, who is currently BREIT head of shareholder relations, to the role of co-president and director of BREIT alongside current co-president, Blackstone veteran A.J. Agarwal. 

BREIT interim chief executive Rob Harper will resume his long-time role as BREIT head of asset management.

Keenan’s appointment as global head of Core+ Real Estate is effective immediately, while the other changes will take effect on 10 November this year.

“We are fortunate to have a deep bench of talented colleagues with a relentless focus on delivering for our investors,” Nadeem Meghji and Kathleen McCarthy, global co-heads of Blackstone Real Estate, said.

“Katie and Tim both have invaluable leadership and investing experience that we believe will continue to drive strong performance across both businesses.” 

Blackstone’s real estate business, which was founded in 1991, has $325bn of investor capital under management.

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