Conference Coverage

InterFace-Austin-Multifamily-Investment-Sales-Panel

By Taylor Williams AUSTIN, TEXAS — For more than a decade coming out of the Great Financial Crisis, the Austin growth story sold itself to the multifamily investment community, and at the height of the market, faith in that narrative alone might have been enough to sway an investment committee to tour, underwrite, offer and close. The past several years have seen a major departure from that modus operandi, as Austin has perhaps borne an outsized share of pain and erosion of fundamentals amid the larger U.S. apartment boom. Back are the days of basis resets, granular scrutinization of line items, skepticism of below-market exit cap rates and highly bifurcated submarket performances. It’s an inverted version of the multifamily utopia that prevailed throughout the state capital in times of historically low interest rates, and to confidently buy in Austin today requires conviction that the current state of affairs is only temporary. 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. So spoke a handful of multifamily investment sales professionals at the annual InterFace Austin Multifamily conference, which took place …

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For industrial developers and owners, Kansas City is an easy sales pitch right now.  “Two years ago, we had to scrounge around [for capital partners] trying to get phone calls returned. Now, they’re calling us saying they’re ready to see what we’ve got,” said Nick Cook, a development manager with Panattoni Development Co. “You’re always trying to sell a story to these folks. And Kansas City is a pretty easy one to sell right now. When it comes to speculative development, we’re feeling bullish.”  Cook’s remarks came during the developers, owners and investors panel at the InterFace Kansas City Industrial conference, which took place Tuesday, Aug. 18 at the Intercontinental Kansas City at the Plaza. Robert Ciston, a senior principal with BRR Architecture, moderated the discussion.  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. Fellow panelist Grant Harrison, executive vice president of development with VanTrust Real Estate, also expressed a bullish mindset on Kansas City and said he wants to get in front of the next wave of development. In contrast, there are some markets where Harrison does not …

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InterFace-Houston-Industrial-Design-Construction-Panel

By Taylor Williams New development within the Houston industrial market is increasingly skewing toward data centers and advanced manufacturing projects, creating new hurdles for architectural, engineering and contracting (AEC) teams to overcome in terms of labor and timing. At the annual InterFace Houston Industrial conference that took place in late August at The Briar Club and was attended by more than 200 industry professionals, Jason Cooper, president at Houston-based general contractor Arch-Con Corp., immediately cited both of these issues when asked about the biggest challenges the industry faces today. Braylie Manson, business development associate in the Houston office of Texas-based engineering firm Dunaway, moderated the conference’s design and construction panel. “The most difficult thing of the past year, excluding the past month or so, has been getting highly qualified subcontractors on board that can keep the schedules that are expected,” said Cooper. “Schedules keep accelerating; we have to turn these projects over faster and faster, so [as general contractors], we have to be very selective about which subcontractors we use to avoid delays.” 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 …

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InterFace-Houston-Retail-Development-Panel

By Taylor Williams In terms of both ground-up construction and expansions and redevelopments of existing properties, retail development in the greater Houston area is pretty healthy by today’s standards, which is to say that meaningful supply gains in major markets are relatively rare in 2026. But the numbers are working in Houston, where sources say that brick-and-mortar sales are strong enough to support the rents that justify new development. Yet at the same time, margins remain thin on both the tenant and landlord sides, and owners are still very much focused on finding creative ways to manage development and operating costs lest they lose that precious, hard-fought cushion. “There’s a ton of new development around the horn, with projects in Katy, Fulshear, Tomball, Magnolia, Baytown and [New Caney’s] Valley Ranch, and those deals are penciling because retailers are keeping up with rents,” said Kenneth Katz, co-founder and principal at Houston-based brokerage firm Baker Katz. His comments were delivered at the annual InterFace Houston Retail & Mixed-Use conference at the Houston Briar Club on Aug. 25., which was attended by more than 200 industry professionals. Editor’s note: InterFace Conference Group, a division of France Media Inc., produces networking and educational conferences for commercial …

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Investment Panel_Seniors Housing Southeast

By Taylor Williams ATLANTA — The cog between the wheels, the mortar between the bricks, the grease between the skids — when it comes to seniors housing, whatever your preferred cliché is for the factor or mechanism that makes it all work, you’re likely talking about the operator. Operators in seniors housing have always provided crucial services in the forms of resident caregiving, facility maintenance, property marketing and programming execution. But in 2026, amid a rebounding investment sales environment, third-party operators also play important roles in helping sellers accurately underwrite costs that fall outside their traditional line-item purview. In addition, the reputation of the operator can factor into the buyer pool for a property on the selling block. 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. At the 13th annual InterFace Seniors Housing Southeast conference, which took place on Aug. 25 at the Grand Hyatt Buckhead Hotel in Atlanta, a panel of owners and investors spelled out just how important the role of the operator really is in the current seniors housing environment. Shae Portnoy, vice president of investments …

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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.

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 …

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During his keynote address at InterFace I-85 Industrial Corridor, a two-day conference held May 19-20 at the Hilton Uptown Charlotte, Gregg Healy, executive vice president and head of industrial services at Savills, shared a quote from Charles Darwin to end his presentation. “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most adaptable to change.” 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. Industrial owners and developers have had to be adaptable given the haymakers issued by macroeconomic forces the past several years. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they rode the reinvigorated demand wave for e-commerce fulfillment with large-scale developments in key transportation corridors. In the following years, they scaled down their pipelines to focus on smaller, more targeted requirements as construction and capital costs rose significantly. And since Liberation Day, when the Trump administration declared a sweeping package of tariffs for foreign trade partners and specific commodities in April 2025, industrial developers have been building and leasing facilities for domestic and global manufacturers that were nearshoring their investments. Today, owners and …

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Midway through a panel discussion comprising apartment operators, moderator Stephanie Garris, director and head of North Carolina at property management firm Arqline, asked the panelists for one thing in multifamily operations that they wish they could stop doing tomorrow. “Offering concessions,” said Dallas Green, regional vice president of RPM Living. “Dallas stole my answer,” said Sherry Yarborough, director of multifamily management Southeast at Drucker & Falk. 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. The panelists were part of InterFace Carolinas Multifamily, an annual networking and information conference held on May 21 at the Hilton Charlotte Uptown. The conference, hosted by InterFace Conference Group and Southeast Real Estate Business, brought in 273 attendees. Concessions often take the form of free rent for a set period, typically one or two months. Renters at newly delivered properties can get up to three months of free rent in some markets today, with longer rent-free periods reserved for those who sign longer term leases or for signing a lease within 24 to 48 hours of touring the property. Yarborough said …

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affordable-housing-southeast

ATLANTA — For much of the past two years, affordable housing transactions in the Southeast moved at a measured pace, slowed by severe cost burdens on both renters and prospective buyers and widening supply deficits. But inside this year’s InterFace Affordable Housing Southeast show, a networking and information conference held at The Westin Buckhead Atlanta on May 12, the tone has shifted. Phones are ringing again, deals are re-entering the pipeline and investors are showing a renewed willingness to chase affordable housing opportunities across the region. 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. Rachel Chapman, national account executive of Stewart Title Guaranty Co., moderated the discussion, entitled “Brokers, Buyers and Capital.” The investment sales panel notably reverted to a subject and question that’s shaping much of today’s affordable housing market: with elevated borrowing costs and general economic uncertainty, why is transaction activity accelerating? Necessitating that question for developers and brokers are the thorns still present in the industry, such as the lengthy process of securing and pricing loans, interest rate volatility and capital markets shifts. Even with these headwinds, …

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Affordable housing developers are under pressure to deliver more units at a time when financing, approvals, construction pricing and long development timelines can easily slow projects down. At InterFace Affordable Housing Southeast, architects and construction leaders emphasized the importance of early collaboration among developers, designers, lenders and public-sector partners. They also explored how modular construction, mass timber, light-gauge steel framing and energy-efficient strategies are being used to control costs, shorten schedules and improve long-term operations. The panelists agreed that design decisions in affordable housing are increasingly tied to insurance costs, maintenance expenses and resident quality of life. The panel’s central message: affordable housing must pencil out financially, but it also must be built to best support all aspects of the communities it serves. Read the full story here.

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