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A persistent concern among financial advisors evaluating DST investments is the exit. Once capital is placed, investors hold passive interests in a specific property or portfolio until the sponsor decides to sell or wind down the trust. Blue Owl Capital’s OREX program introduces a structural alternative that changes the long-term value proposition.
The pathway runs through ORENT, Blue Owl Real Estate Net Lease Trust, the firm’s non-traded REIT focused on net-leased commercial properties. Rather than waiting for an individual property disposition, investors gain a potential route from a concentrated DST holding into a diversified, income-producing REIT.
How OP Unit Conversion Works
After investors have held their beneficial interests in a closed DST offering for at least two years, Blue Owl’s NLT Operating Partnership may acquire those interests by exchanging them for operating partnership (OP) units or cash, at its sole discretion. Investors who receive OP units defer capital gains taxes indefinitely while gaining exposure to the broader pool of net-leased assets within ORENT.
For an advisor placing client capital into a 1031 exchange, the difference between a DST with a fixed, property-dependent exit and one with a structured conversion pathway into an actively managed REIT is material. The latter offers continued tax deferral, broader diversification, and income from a portfolio rather than a single asset.
What ORENT Delivers
The destination matters as much as the pathway. ORENT produced 13.4% gross return and 10.9% net return for 2025 on Class I shares, outperforming the FTSE REIT index total return of 2.3% by a wide margin. The REIT ranked as the top net fundraiser among non-traded REITs in 2025, with inflows up 55% year over year.
Tax deferral alone brings investors to the 1031 exchange market. A structured pathway into a REIT performing at that level is what keeps the capital engaged, and it helps explain Blue Owl Capital’s rapid climb among DST sponsors.
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