Necessity has sparked innovation across the multifamily sector. Property managers are implementing new technology platforms to streamline leasing, maintenance and resident communications because of rising operating costs, says Jim Cunningham, president of Naperville, Illinois-based Marquette Management, which owns or manages nearly 16,000 units across eight states. Operating costs increased 7 percent last year, according to CBRE. Rising insurance costs are one of the primary drivers. Property managers are also embracing technology to enhance resident satisfaction. Wendy Deetjen, vice president of Habitat’s market-rate portfolio, says that today’s renters expect more convenience, personalization and instant communication than in the past. Chicago-based Habitat manages more than 13,000 units across Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota. “Reputation management and resident engagement remain critical, and while staffing challenges persist industrywide, automation helps our teams focus on what matters most — delivering excellent service and building stronger communities,” says Deetjen. The automation and problem-solving capabilities that come with artificial intelligence (AI) free up property managers to devote more time to other tasks. This advancement is especially beneficial at a time when the labor supply is low. Cunningham says that labor in multifamily management remains tight but is improving. The industry faced a 4.1 percent turnover rate in 2024, …
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Lenders Are Back in Action for Multifamily Development Deals, Says InterFace Panel
by John Nelson
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In its first-quarter report, property management research firm RealPage stated that the “supply wave for multifamily was cresting” as the U.S. apartment sector set a record in terms of units absorbed (138,302), outpacing deliveries (116,092). A year prior, RealPage reported that deliveries (135,652) outstripped absorption (103,826) in first-quarter 2024. Will Block, partner and co-founder of Olympus Development Co., said that the flip in the U.S. apartment market’s supply-demand dynamic the past 12 months has made all the difference in terms of lenders’ perception. 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. “It couldn’t be more different what it looked like a year ago trying to capitalize deals in tertiary markets,” said Block. “Last year we would call 50 lenders with the hope of one to get to do it at terms that we didn’t like with ridiculous deposit requirements. I probably get four or five cold calls a week from bankers now.” Block’s comments came during the development panel at InterFace Carolinas Multifamily, an annual networking and information conference held on May 21 …
By Deb Smith, co-founder and CEO, The CenterCap Group What’s going on with infrastructure? It’s not just utility pipelines and toll roads anymore. Infrastructure is showing up in sectors that used to be the heart of commercial real estate — data centers, logistics parks, healthcare facilities, cold storage, even energy-embedded office campuses. Infrastructure capital is moving in, and it’s reshaping how we think about real estate. This isn’t a story about KKR merging its infrastructure and real estate divisions, or AustralianSuper and Aware Super being early movers in combining each of theirs. Those are consequences, not drivers. The blurring of asset classes is about capital. It’s about a masterful mix of silo-busting and cross-pollination. It’s about more products and more distribution — the two engines of growth. Labels aren’t the decision-makers anymore; property characteristics are. For example, long-term contracts can be viewed through an alternative lens: tenant “stickiness.” Essential, durable cash-flowing and built to last — these qualities can be achieved in different ways — not just through public-private partnerships (PPPs) and government contracts. Take data centers. A few years ago, they were just real estate — leased space with strong tenants and cap rates. Now? They’re treated like digital …
By Brett Reese of CP Group After several years of disruption, the office market is beginning to show meaningful signs of recovery. Market fundamentals are strengthening, sentiment is shifting and the data backs it up. Office sales totaled $64.3 billion last year, up nearly 21 percent from 2023, according to MSCI Real Assets. Net absorption also turned positive, with 6.5 million more square feet of U.S. office space leased than vacated, marking the most substantial annual gains since 2019. Rent growth has been substantial across key markets, lenders are re-engaging and marquee transactions are driving capital back to the sector. These are the first broad signs that the innovative strategies employed by experienced owners and operators over the past five years are beginning to pay off. Sun Belt momentum In Southeastern markets like South Florida and Atlanta, recovery outpaces national trends, driven by location, flexibility and amenitized space. Hard-learned lessons by tenants, lenders and landlords have reshaped the market. As the industry recalibrates, operators with conviction and capital can double down on what’s working. Debt is returning Perhaps the most significant harbinger of market recovery is the thawing of the debt markets. Just a year ago, lenders willing to underwrite …
InterFace Panel: Multifamily Operators Are Utilizing Fee Transparency, Concessions to Woo Renters
by John Nelson
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The federal government has been cracking down on price gouging in recent months. Last month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) implemented a rule to ban “junk fees” from live event platforms like Ticketmaster, as well as hotels and other short-term lodging. This rule precludes the vendor or property owner/management firm from being able to charge hidden fees on the back end by requiring them to put the total cost upfront, inclusive of all mandatory fees and charges. And in January, the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ), along with 10 state attorneys general, followed up on its 2023 antitrust lawsuit with RealPage by adding six of the nation’s largest property managers to the lawsuit. 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 amended complaint alleges that the companies — Greystar; Blackstone’s LivCor LLC; Camden Property Trust; Cushman & Wakefield Inc. (formerly operating independently as Pinnacle); Willow Bridge Property Co. (formerly Lincoln Residential); and Cortland Management LLC (Cortland) — used RealPage’s pricing algorithms via the company’s YieldStar platform to share sensitive data and coordinate pricing strategies, …
By Hayden Spiess DALLAS — Although tenant demand for active adult communities remains strong, the sector is not immune to escalating construction costs, labor shortages, tariffs and general economic uncertainty, say industry professionals. Teamwork across key disciplines can help make clearing those hurdles much easier. “We’re having a hard time getting things to pencil these days,” levels Erin Berry Harps, director of interior design at Direct Supply Aptura, a senior living design and construction firm. Simultaneously, residents are as price conscious as ever, she points out. “We also have increased consumer demand for affordability,” emphasizes Harps. 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. Harps’ assessment came during the 5th annual InterFace Active Adult conference, which was held Wednesday, May 7, at The Westin Las Colinas in Dallas. Harps moderated a panel titled “Architecture, Design & Construction Trends for Active Adult Projects” at the daylong event, which attracted more than 300 industry professionals. In addition to Harps, the panel discussion included Bill Foster, a partner with Lantz-Boggio Architects; Lisa Warnock, principal and founder of Glow Interior Designs; Jarrett Cooper, vice …
InterFace: Today’s Successful Student Housing Developments Pair Great Site Selection with Efficient Design
by John Nelson
AUSTIN, TEXAS — It’s no secret that finding and entitling sites and procuring development financing has been challenging over the past few years. But Kevin Kazlow, director of capital markets with JLL, who moderated one of the development panels at this year’s InterFace Student Housing conference in Austin, Texas, believes there is lots to be excited about for the year ahead. Chief among them is the fact that the amount of capital allocated to alternative asset classes like student housing has doubled since 2018. “This group of panelists alone has a combined pipeline of about 40,000 beds under development, which is an incredibly impressive statistic and speaks to the continued demand for new student housing projects,” said Kazlow. 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 first step in the development process is securing a great site, which Brandt Stiles, principal with Subtext, considers part of his firm’s ‘secret sauce.’ “We have a really high expectation for our team to find super high barrier to entry, hard to entitle, fortress sites and for us, it’s all about being …
Tariffs Make ‘Challenging Deals Even More Challenging’ for Economic Development Officials, Says InterFace Panel
by John Nelson
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tariffs are at the forefront of the U.S. economic landscape as they impact costs and timelines for a multitude of industries. For the industrial real estate sector, developers and tenants alike are monitoring the severity at which tariffs can complicate their everyday business activity, thus economic development officials are playing a crucial role in helping companies mitigate those costs and delays. “A lot of our business comes down to reducing risks for companies,” said Melissa Smith, senior vice president of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina. “There’s a lot of scrambling due to tariffs. They make already challenging deals even more challenging. We have to be ready to help [companies] navigate through these challenges so that they can make a successful decision.” 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. Smith’s comments came on the opening night of InterFace I-85 Industrial Corridor, a two-day networking and information event held at the Hilton Charlotte Uptown hotel on May 19-20. Brian Young, senior director of Cushman & Wakefield’s Greenville office, moderated the discussion called …
Competition for Labor, Land Is Reshaping the I-85 Industrial Corridor, According to InterFace Panelists
by Abby Cox
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Stretching from Alabama to Atlanta, through the Carolinas and into Virginia, the I-85 corridor has long been a backbone of industrial growth in the Southeastern United States. Once celebrated as a magnet for logistic hubs, manufacturing plants and warehouse developments, this valuable category of real estate is now showing signs of strain. 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. During the COVID-19 pandemic, industrial real estate, especially warehouses and distribution centers, saw a dramatic surge in demand due to a rise in e-commerce, inventory stockpiling due to supply chain issues and lower interest rates. Fast forward five years later, the industrial market is now experiencing a slowdown due to new pressures that are reversing or slowing down many of those trends. “People are concerned about making a decision today without knowing what’s going to happen tomorrow,” said John Coleman, senior vice president of Graham &. Co. Coleman specializes in representing both tenants and landlords across the Birmingham and Montgomery industrial markets in Alabama. Coleman’s comments came while on stage during the closing panel at InterFace …
DALLAS — The evolution of active adult product is in the third inning of a nine-inning game, but some markets are clearly ahead of the curve, says Zach Crowe, managing director of U.S. real estate for private equity giant The Carlyle Group. “There are markets like Dallas, Las Vegas and Denver that have had active adult for 20 years at this point, and the product is well known. The consumer understands what it is. There are other markets with very few properties, and people have no idea what it is. It’s still incredibly early [in the game],” reports Crowe, who is based in Washington, D.C., and focuses on real estate investment opportunities in multifamily, 55+ housing and medical office properties. 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 insights from Crowe came during the CEO panel at the fifth annual InterFace Active Adult conference. The daylong conference, which took place May 7 at The Westin Los Colinas in Dallas, attracted more than 300 industry professionals. Moderated by Ryan Maconachy, vice chairman of health and alternative assets for Newmark, the …
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