BREIT 2017 Annual Report

1 PART I. CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Forward- looking statements include statements about our business, including, in particular, statements about our plans, strategies and objectives. You can generally identify forward-looking statements by our use of forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “believe,” “continue” or other similar words. These statements include our plans and objectives for future operations, including plans and objectives relating to future growth and availability of funds, and are based on current expectations that involve numerous risks and uncertainties. Assumptions relating to these statements involve judgments with respect to, among other things, future economic, competitive and market conditions and future business decisions, all of which are difficult or impossible to accurately predict and many of which are beyond our control. Although we believe the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements, and the forward-looking statements themselves, are reasonable, any of the assumptions could be inaccurate and, therefore, there can be no assurance that these forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate and our actual results, performance and achievements may be materially different from that expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in these forward looking statements, the inclusion of this information should not be regarded as a representation by us or any other person that our objectives and plans, which we consider to be reasonable, will be achieved. You should carefully review Item 1A — “Risk Factors” section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a discussion of the risks and uncertainties that we believe are material to our business, operating results, prospects and financial condition. Except as otherwise required by federal securities laws, we do not undertake to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. ITEM 1. BUSINESS References herein to “Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust,” the “Company,” “BREIT,” “we,” “us,” or “our” refer to Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, Inc., a Maryland corporation, and its subsidiaries unless the context specifically requires otherwise. General Description of Business and Operations BREIT is a non-exchange traded, perpetual life real estate investment trust ("REIT") that acquires primarily stabilized income-oriented commercial real estate in the United States and to a lesser extent real estate-related securities. We are externally managed by BX REIT Advisors L.L.C. (the “Adviser”), a subsidiary of The Blackstone Group L.P. (“Blackstone”). We are the sole general partner of BREIT Operating Partnership L.P. (“BREIT OP”), a Delaware limited partnership, and we own all or substantially all of our assets through BREIT OP. We currently operate our business in five reportable segments: Multifamily, Industrial, Hotel, and Retail Properties, and Real Estate-Related Securities. Our objective is to bring Blackstone’s leading real estate investment platform with an institutional fee structure to individual investors. We intend to qualify as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) for U.S. federal income tax purposes beginning with the taxable year ended December 31, 2017. We generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income taxes on our taxable income to the extent we annually distribute all of our net taxable income to stockholders and maintain our qualification as a REIT. We have registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) an offering of up to $5.0 billion in shares of common stock (in any combination of purchases of Class S, Class T, Class D and Class I shares of our common stock), consisting of up to $4.0 billion in shares in our primary offering and up to $1.0 billion in shares pursuant to its distribution reinvestment plan (the “Offering”). The share classes have different upfront selling commissions and ongoing stockholder servicing fees. As of January 1, 2017, we satisfied the minimum offering requirement and our board of directors authorized the release of proceeds from escrow. We intend to continue selling shares in the Offering on a monthly basis. As of March 19, 2018, we had received net proceeds of $2.3 billion from selling an aggregate of 226,804,071 shares of our common stock (consisting of 163,218,275 Class S shares, 9,741,552 Class T shares, 6,823,284 Class D shares, and 47,020,960 Class I shares). We have primarily used the net proceeds to make investments in real estate and real estate-related securities.