Features

C-PACE Financing Is Meeting the Moment

by John Nelson August 20, 2026

The cat is out of the bag for Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy financing, or C-PACE. C-PACE financing executions across the country totaled a little more than $2 billion in both 2023 and 2024, according to PACENation, which tracks and advocates for C-PACE financing. The nonprofit association hasn’t published the final numbers for 2025 yet, but CNBC reports that Nuveen Green Capital closed more than $2 billion in C-PACE loans across 53 deals last year alone. “In less than a decade, C-PACE has grown from a niche, nuanced product to institutionally recognized,” says Rafi Golberstein, founder and CEO of PACE Loan Group (PLG), a C-PACE lender based in Minneapolis with regional offices in New York City, San Diego and Chicago. “That’s both a result of the growth of the industry to this point and what’s fueling its next phase. As the clientele has moved from mostly regional developers to include the large, national developers, the deal size has increased as well.” Earlier this year, PLG secured a $100 million C-PACE loan for Patmos, an artificial intelligence (AI) data center operator. The company is converting a glass-encased building in downtown Kansas City that once housed the operations of The Kansas City …

August 20, 2026

Features Retail

More Than Shopping: How Retail Design Has Evolved Beyond Conveyance of Goods, Become Amenitized

by Taylor Williams August 18, 2026

By Randall Shearin With more food-and-beverage (F&B), outdoor spaces and entertainment uses prevailing, retail centers are being viewed by many consumers and communities more as a place to spend time than purchase goods. While goods and services may still be at the forefront of their function, many developers have taken their cues from resorts and parks to understand how to give consumers an experience worth paying for. “Retail developers increasingly recognize that consumers are seeking experiences that encourage longer visits and repeat trips,” says Neil Feaser, president of RKAA Architects. “Our response is to design projects that support multiple reasons to visit. The goal is to create destinations where shopping is one component of a broader experience that includes dining, recreation, social engagement and community interaction.” Over the past decade, retail design has continued to evolve as dining, entertainment and public spaces become more prevalent features. Programming — in the form of arts events, farmer’s markets, concerts and live entertainment — has also become a big part of the community attraction factor at many centers. These components have become just as important as retail to the draw of a center for many developers and communities. And with retail space at …

August 18, 2026

Features Healthcare Mixed-Use Southeast Southeast Feature Archive Tennessee

Outpatient Care Is Becoming Valued Member of Mixed-Use Developments

by John Nelson August 13, 2026

By Emily Buchanan of Gensler For decades, healthcare delivery was something that happened somewhere else: a hospital campus on the edge of town, a medical office park behind a parking garage, a clinic that required a car and a calendar. Today, patient expectations have shifted. Health systems chase convenience, and outpatient facilities are moving closer to where people live. For mixed-use developers, that shift represents one of the most compelling value propositions available: healthcare not as a use, but as an amenity. The case isn’t complicated. Locating outpatient clinics within a mixed-use development improves quality of life for residents, provides healthcare tenants with a stable and captive patient base and gives medical staff a commute that doesn’t erode the beginning and end of every shift. When all three outcomes land in the same project, developers are not just filling square footage; they are building a functioning community. Developer’s perspective Healthcare tenants are, by almost every measure, among the most valuable tenants a mixed-use developer can attract. They sign long-term leases, they withstand economic downturns, and they generate consistent daily foot traffic that benefits the retail and food-and-beverage tenants around them. Pharmacies, fitness studios and cafés thrive when an outpatient clinic …

August 13, 2026

Features Heartland Feature Archive Multifamily

Multifamily Operators Seek Competitive Edge

by Kristin Harlow August 11, 2026

The multifamily industry is facing a number of headwinds such as high operating costs, increased vacancy and stagnant rent growth. Property managers are leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and focusing on recruitment and retention of workers as solutions. There’s also a strong emphasis on resident satisfaction, with the goal of providing top-notch maintenance and property events to help secure lease renewals. In June 2025, operational expenses in multifamily assets were roughly 39 percent above where they were prior to the pandemic, according to commercial real estate data analytics firm RealPage. In the first quarter of 2026, three of the six apartment market regions that CBRE tracks posted negative year-over-year rent growth (Mountain, South Central and Southeast). The national vacancy rate was 4.8 percent, up slightly from a year ago but down 20 basis points from fourth-quarter 2025, according to CBRE. Amid these pressures, the role of the property manager is vital in helping shape resident satisfaction and maximizing operational efficiencies. Jim Cunningham, president of Marquette Management in Naperville, Illinois, says the multifamily industry is in a period of transition. “Operators are navigating higher operating costs, increased regulatory scrutiny and a more value-conscious renter, all while expectations for service and experience continue …

August 11, 2026

The office sector showed its strongest performance since COVID in the second quarter of 2026, according to the Lee & Associates’ 2026 Q2 North America Market Report.

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Lee & Associates’ Q2 Report: Office, Retail Markets Gain Momentum as Industrial, Multifamily Face Headwinds

by Sarah Daniels August 6, 2026

The Lee & Associates’ 2026 Q2 North America Market Report finds that commercial real estate fundamentals are improving, but the pace of recovery varies significantly by property type and market. Office and retail sectors are showing renewed momentum, industrial demand continues to recover unevenly amid trade uncertainty and multifamily fundamentals are stabilizing as new supply begins to moderate. Across all sectors, investors and occupiers remain highly selective in an evolving market. Sponsored: Download Lee & Associates’ 2026 Q2 North America Market Report. Industrial Overview: Recovering Demand Is Uneven Amid Trade Tensions Demand for North American industrial space in the second quarter continued to recover from slowing caused by heightened trade uncertainties that began early last year. Modest tenant expansion in the United States remains well off pre-COVID average growth. In the United States, 44.4 million square feet of net absorption in the second quarter brought the mid-year total to 77.1 million square feet, about 30 percent less than the pre-pandemic five-year average. First-half deliveries fell to 93 million square feet, which included 44.4 million square feet in the first quarter — the least in seven years. Although supply additions have moderated, the pullback in tenant demand over the past three years …

August 6, 2026

Features Office

What’s Next for the U.S. Office Market?

by Matthew Auchincloss August 4, 2026

By Matthew Auchincloss The U.S. office sector may never be going back to pre-pandemic utilization levels, but enough time has elapsed and data compiled to make the case that the asset class is stabilizing. According to data from CoStar Group, leasing activity remained steady in the second quarter of 2026, with 115 million square feet of new leases signed (renewals were not included in the data). That remains approximately 9 percent below the quarterly average from 2015 through 2019 but is far above the leasing volume from 2020 and 2021. The national vacancy rate is down 50 basis points from one year ago and 20 basis points in the past quarter, currently sitting at around 18 percent, according to CoStar. Rental rates are also up, averaging approximately $38.06 per square foot nationally — a 2.3 percent increase from last year, according to Colliers. Class A rates currently sit around $43.76 per square foot, with a sharp divide between central business district (CBD) rates and suburban product. CBD rates dropped 10 basis points from the first quarter, but the $52.52 per square foot price tag is still up slightly year-over-year (70 basis points). Suburban rates are much lower at approximately $37.74 …

August 4, 2026

Features Heartland Feature Archive

Beyond the Mirages: Finding Yield in a Normalized Real Estate Market

by Kristin Harlow July 30, 2026

By Dan Levitt, Ryan Cos. If it feels like the commercial real estate market has been running in place for the last three years, you’re not alone. There has been a sense of anticipation, and even inaction, that has defined the landscape as we waited for catalysts that have yet to materialize. Many of us have been distracted, looking for silver bullets in Federal Reserve rate cuts, anticipating a flood of distressed deals or chasing niche returns in preferred equity. However, these distractions have obscured possible opportunities. To break the stalemate and drive the next recovery, we must shift our focus from these mirages and get back to the fundamentals of traditional equity investing. The 10-year reality The most widely accepted misconception in our industry right now is that Federal Reserve rate cuts will serve as the silver bullet for commercial real estate — though expectations for rate cuts have diminished significantly lately. Over the past several years, even as short-term interest rates have come down by over 150 basis points, we’ve seen headline after headline anticipating that new reductions to the federal funds rate will compress cap rates and send valuations rising again. This notion fundamentally misinterprets how institutional …

July 30, 2026

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Resilient Demand in Key Regions Supports Multifamily Through Midyear Challenges

by Sarah Daniels July 28, 2026

By Ann Atkinson, Regions Real Estate Capital Markets Midway through 2026, the multifamily industry appears to be holding steady. By many accounts, fundamentals are weathering uncertainties across the economy, job markets and geopolitical arenas. While some key metrics have softened, the overall health of the apartments sector demonstrates how essential this class of real estate is. Simply stated, everyone needs a safe place to call home. Sustained demand for rental units remains central to the sector’s health, and conditions in the for-sale market continue to shape that demand directly. For many households, homeownership has become increasingly out of reach. Affordability has eroded sharply over the past decade, driven by land use restrictions, constrained housing supply and a widening gap between mortgage costs and income, according to an October Goldman Sachs’ U.S. outlook for housing supply and affordability. Elevated interest rates in recent years have only added to the strain. Together, these factors are keeping many Americans in rentals far longer than they might have planned. Even with strong demand, the apartments market isn’t without challenges. The industry is still working through the surge in new unit supply that hit the market over the past few years. As a result, rents …

July 28, 2026

Features Multifamily

The Middle-Income Housing Gap Is Hiding in Plain Sight: Buildings We’ve Already Built

by Taylor Williams July 23, 2026

By Danny Fishman, CEO, co-founder, GAIA Real Estate The country’s broader middle class is facing a housing crisis: a growing gap in available, high-quality rental options. High-demand markets like Miami and New York City are now appearing in headlines on two lists at once. Miami is called out as oversupplied but is also pointed to as one of the least affordable rental markets in the country. New York City has a supply shortage with population decreasing in recent years, and still rents go up. The new supply of rental units flooding Sun Belt markets are mostly in Class A buildings with full amenities. Therefore, less quality options are available to middle-income renters. Much of the industry is shying away from this gap, but it’s crucial that developers, cities and states start pushing toward it. Major institutional investors have historically chased luxury or affordable housing at the extremes, partially due to the real estate market’s — both private and public sectors — failure to foresee the widening income gap. As the economy split, households got pushed toward the higher and lower ends, while the middle thinned out. At the same time, renters and buyers were looking for apartments with nice …

July 23, 2026

Speakers at the build-to-rent panel at InterFace Carolinas Multifamily included, from left, Louis Smart of CBRE (moderator); Ed Oprindick of Mandrake; Lisa Taylor of Greystar; Eric Friedman of Crescent Communities; and Andy Lucas of Beauxwright.

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InterFace: Build-to-Rent Developers Navigate Uncertainty Stemming from ROAD to Housing Law, Picky Renters

by Matthew Auchincloss July 21, 2026

By Matthew Auchincloss CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The multifamily build-to-rent (BTR) market in the Carolinas is the most competitive it’s ever been. According to Louis Smart, senior vice president at CBRE, more than 22,000 townhomes and single-family rental (SFR) units were delivered in the Carolinas over the past three years, and developers are jostling for position to handle it. “We’re reacting as probably most of our peers are reacting: scratching and clawing through lease-up, being as creative as we can, spending money that we really don’t want to spend from a marketing and advertising perspective trying to differentiate the product as much as possible, leaning into the fact that we believe we’ve picked good locations,” adds Andy Lucas, principal at Beauxwright. Lucas was a speaker on a panel titled, “Build-to-Rent in the Carolinas: Headwinds, Tailwinds and What Comes Next?” The panel was part of the lineup at InterFace Carolinas Multifamily, an information and networking conference that took place on May 21 at the Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Smart was the panel moderator. Editor’s note: InterFace Conference Group, a division of France Media Inc., produces networking and educational conferences for commercial real estate executives. To sign up for email announcements about specific events, visit www.interfaceconferencegroup.com/subscribe. Other panelists included Eric …

July 21, 2026

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