Real Estate Giants Partner on AI for Investing
Public Storage and Welltower have announced a strategic data science partnership to apply AI to real estate investing. The collaboration will combine Welltower's data-driven capital allocation models with Public Storage's vast operational scale.
This partnership formalizes an already close relationship between the two real estate investment trusts. Welltower's CEO, Shankh Mitra, has served on Public Storage's Board of Trustees since January 2021 and is set to become its non-executive Chairman in April 2026. This existing leadership overlap provides a strong foundation for the new data science collaboration. The collaboration will leverage immense, proprietary datasets that are not accessible to competitors or third-party data providers. Public Storage is the largest self-storage provider in the U.S., with more than 3,300 facilities serving approximately two million customers. Welltower focuses on senior and wellness housing, managing a portfolio of over 2,000 communities. While both are leaders in their respective sectors, their data science expertise differs. Welltower has a well-established data science platform focused on capital allocation—using AI for acquisitions, developments, and dispositions. Public Storage's strength lies in operational data, including revenue management, customer behavior modeling, and demand forecasting. The goal is to create a powerful synergy by combining these complementary skill sets. Welltower's investment models will be enhanced by Public Storage's vast operational data, while Public Storage's day-to-day operations stand to benefit from Welltower's AI-driven investment strategies. This move is part of a larger trend of AI integration in the real estate sector, which has been traditionally slow to adopt new technologies. AI is increasingly used for everything from property valuation and identifying investment opportunities to predictive maintenance and tenant screening. The real estate industry is seeing significant efficiency gains from AI adoption. Some firms have reported boosting net operating income by up to 10% by using machine learning for tasks like optimizing rental rates and reducing on-site staffing through AI-powered tools. With a combined market capitalization of nearly $200 billion, this partnership represents a significant move to institutionalize data-driven decision-making in real estate. Public Storage's market cap is around $52.5 billion, while Welltower's is approximately $147 billion.
