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

Matthew Auchincloss — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 11:30:00 +0000

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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Retail Real Estate Enters New Era of Confidence, Say JLL Survey Takers

Abby Cox — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 11:45:00 +0000

CHICAGO — After years of uncertainty fueled by inflation, rising interest rates and changing consumer behavior, retail real estate has entered a notably different phase. According to JLL’s 2026 U.S. Retail Thematic Outlook and Investor Survey, the sector is no longer in recovery mode — it’s operating from a position of strength. Retail activity surged in the first quarter of the year as transaction volume hit $13.5 billion, a 5 percent year-over-year increase. Concurrently, the trailing 12-month volume climbed to $62 billion, representing a 31 percent increase over the previous period. Retail now accounts for its highest share of U.S. sector investment in a decade, sitting at 14 percent. The survey of nearly 150 retail investors paints a picture of a market supported by historically limited new supply, healthy consumer demand and renewed investor confidence. While broader economic concerns remain, the outlook suggests retail has become one of commercial real estate’s most compelling investment narratives, driven by strong fundamentals. One of the clearest indicators of that confidence is investor appetite. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of respondents said they expect to increase retail acquisitions in 2026, while fewer than half (48 percent) anticipate selling more assets. The imbalance between buyers and…

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Build-to-Rent Thrives on Renter Retention

Taylor Williams — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 11:57:00 +0000

By Taylor Williams Whether by choice or necessity, the share of Americans who rent rather than own their homes is on the rise. Compared to the counterparts in the traditional multifamily space, owners and operators of build-to-rent (BTR) properties believe that they are in some ways better positioned to capitalize on this trend. And according to some professionals who own and operate these properties, resident retention is a powerful supportive factor behind this sentiment. Ty Robinson, president at Dallas-based ONM Living, the BTR division of HistoryMaker Homes, says that the majority of his company’s residents are experienced renters who are coming from traditional apartments. Robinson has observed that while these individuals may take longer to formally sign a lease for a BTR home than they would a regular apartment, all other factors being held equal, once they’re in, they tend to stick around. “Given the price point — we typically see premiums of 10 to 30 percent relative to traditional multifamily — and the weight of the decision, it often takes those people longer to commit, but they’re not as transient,” Robinson says. “These residents are staying longer, and as experienced renters, they don’t typically need as much oversight from…

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University Retirement Communities Make the Grade

Hayden Spiess — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 15:45:24 +0000

By Hayden Spiess At first glance, mixing university students in their late teens and early 20s with senior living residents might seem too unconventional to succeed. “These are two completely different worlds,” concedes Andrew Carle, president of Carle Consulting. “You cannot find a bigger odd couple than bureaucratic universities focused on 20-year-olds and fast-moving senior living providers that are focused on 80-year-olds. Bringing those worlds together is hard.” Even so, the premise of university retirement communities (URCs) does exactly that, and Carle is one of the property type’s strongest proponents. More than 80 URCs are currently open throughout the U.S., according to UniversityRetirementCommunities.com, which is an online resource established and operated by Carle. The proliferation of these niche properties marks a stark contrast from a few decades ago, when the first URCs began to pop up. Those first communities included Meadowood at Indiana University, which opened in 1983, and Green Hills at Iowa State, which was built in 1986. Carle describes those two pioneering communities as “organically built” properties, rather than “intentionally built” URCs. “Most of the early ones were organically built,” explains Carle. “They didn’t even know what they were doing, frankly.” As interest in senior living communities…

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Competition Is Fierce for Quality Retail Spaces

Kristin Harlow — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 12:30:00 +0000

Today, there’s a multitude of factors shaping the retail leasing market. Smaller footprints, the influence of technology, changing lifestyles of younger generations, limited new supply and backfilling closures are just some of the most prominent storylines. As of the first quarter, the national retail vacancy rate held stable at 4.4 percent, up 10 basis points from the prior quarter, according to Colliers, which covers malls, shopping centers and general retail across 390 markets. “The market remains structurally tight due to limited new supply and steady backfill demand,” summarizes the brokerage firm in its first-quarter “U.S. Retail Market Statistics” report. “A clear bifurcation persists, with tight availability for small spaces and more modest availability among large anchor boxes.” In a nutshell, today’s retailers prioritize smaller, more efficient spaces with strong visibility, easy access and co-tenancy with established traffic drivers along with the flexibility to support omnichannel operations, says Ron Goldstone, executive vice president at NAI Farbman in Farmington Hills, Michigan. In the first quarter of the year, Continental Realty Corp. executed deals with tenants in the health and wellness category, service-oriented uses, food-and-beverage, children’s schools, entertainment and various franchise concepts in the 1,500- to 2,000-square-foot range, according to Kristina O’Keefe, senior…

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InterFace: Industrial Developers Are Fielding More Atypical Requirements from Tenants

John Nelson — Thu, 18 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000

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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Retailers Move Beyond Leasing to Legacy Ownership

John Nelson — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 11:45:00 +0000

Earlier this year, Publix Super Markets purchased a portfolio of six Publix-anchored shopping centers in the Southeast for $130.4 million. The Lakeland, Fla.-based grocer has been aggressively growing its ownership portfolio of shopping centers as the company sees value in being its own landlord. Other large anchors like Walmart and Dillard’s have also purchased shopping centers and malls in recent months. Jason Donald, managing director of retail investment sales at Franklin Street, says that it’s not just the big box anchors that are getting in on the trend. Donald represents an undisclosed retail bank that is pursuing this strategy, which he says is becoming more popular as the capital markets make the ownership model more viable, especially for high creditworthy tenants. “With interest rates coming down and money being readily available, the propensity is shifting that tenants now want to own their own assets,” says Donald. “We’re seeing less leasing and more propensity to own, banks and gas stations especially are getting on that train. That’s the shift in the market we’re seeing more than anything else.” REBusinessOnline recently caught up with Donald to discuss the buyer pool for retail properties, as well as other investment sales trends including the…

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InterFace: Concessions Remain an Operational Necessity for Multifamily Stakeholders

John Nelson — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000

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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How Developers Can Prioritize Successful Adaptive Reuse Lending Relationships

Taylor Williams — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000

By John Garrett of Enterprise Bank & Trust Driven by an ongoing shift in demand and industry-specific needs from commercial real estate space, adaptive reuse projects can transform existing underutilized buildings into new and more functional spaces. Offices and retail properties can be reimagined for shared or added functionality, or in some cases, reconfigured for entirely different purposes, including residential use. These projects allow developers to capitalize on opportunistic investment into value-add acquisitions, as well as tenant-driven opportunities. However, the size of these transitional, sub-institutional development projects creates a unique financial challenge. Many traditional lenders see these as too small and risky, with an aversion to arranging moving pieces to creatively manage tailored financing solutions that are needed to acquire and alter spaces for new opportunities. Transitional development projects don’t involve stabilized properties. Instead, the opportunity lies in repositioning the space to add value, which often means limited cash flow for an interim period while needing immediate access to funds. Creating efficient and flexible banking partnerships can allow real estate developers that are interested in pursuing these projects to scale business in a manner that helps meet a growing demand. How Lending Can Differ Both the complexity and varying size…

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InterFace Panel: Affordable Housing Deal Flow Gains Momentum as Brokers Turn Bullish

Abby Cox — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 11:45:00 +0000

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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InterFace Panel: Architects Share Solutions to Affordable Housing Delivery Gaps

Kristin Harlow — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 13:49:04 +0000

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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Utilities, Infrastructure Can Make or Break the Next Cycle of Industrial Development, Say InterFace Panelists

John Nelson — Thu, 28 May 2026 12:00:00 +0000

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The U.S. industrial real estate sector has been on a long rebound from the supply wave following the COVID-19 pandemic. Approximately 2.5 billion square feet of industrial space was delivered between 2020 and 2025, according to data from Cushman & Wakefield. In the Southeast, deliveries were especially pronounced, most notably in the high-growth I-85 industrial corridor that spans from Montgomery, Ala., to south Richmond, Va. The 666-mile interstates traverses through Atlanta, Greenville-Spartanburg, Charlotte, the Piedmont Triad (Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem) and Raleigh-Durham. 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. Gregg Healy, executive vice president and head of industrial services at Savills, says that since the beginning of 2022, nearly 250 million square feet of industrial space has been delivered along the I-85 corridor, which has taken longer to be absorbed than anticipated. “We were oversupplied, not just in the I-85 corridor, but nationally, because of the post-COVID boom when everyone was developing,” says Healy. “But vacancy rates did drop in the first quarter of 2026 for the first time in three…

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A Winning Recipe for Office Conversions

Kristin Harlow — Tue, 19 May 2026 12:30:00 +0000

The number of underutilized office buildings being converted into apartment units continues to steadily rise, largely due to the acceptance that the post-COVID hybrid work format is here to stay. At the start of 2026, the national office-to-apartment conversion pipeline reached 90,300 units, up 28 percent year over year and nearly four times larger than in 2022, according to RentCafe, a sister company of Yardi Matrix. Office conversions now account for almost half (47 percent) of all planned adaptive reuse projects nationwide (roughly 90,300 apartments out of 193,900 planned projects). Behind New York City and Washington, D.C., Chicago ranks third on the list for the largest office-to-apartment conversions pipeline, according to RentCafe. Cleveland and Cincinnati round out the top 10. Five other Midwest markets — Detroit, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Milwaukee and St. Louis — are included in the top 20. These cities are deploying combinations of tax-increment financing (TIF), local tax abatements, Housing Trust Fund dollars and historic tax credits to support office conversions in their downtown districts, says Al Fiesel, commercial business unit leader at Chicago-based LJC Design & Engineering. “The specific tools differ by market, but the underlying premise recognizes that public participation is the mechanism that makes…

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MBA: Commercial, Multifamily Borrowing Increased 52 Percent in First-Quarter 2026

John Nelson — Tue, 12 May 2026 11:45:00 +0000

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Commercial and multifamily mortgage loan originations were 52 percent higher in the first quarter of 2026 compared to first-quarter 2025, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Quarterly Survey of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Bankers Originations. First-quarter production falls in line with the organization’s 2026 forecast made in February that commercial and multifamily loan originations this year would increase by 27 percent compared to 2025. Among capital sources, the dollar volume of loans originated for investor-driven lenders increased by 133 percent year-over-year in the first quarter. There was also an 80 percent increase in loans for depositories (i.e. banks and credit unions); a 38 percent increase in government-sponsored enterprises (i.e. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac); and a 9 percent increase in life company loans. There was also a14 percent decline in commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) loans compared to a year ago. “The most notable increase was the 80 percent rise in depository lending, driven in part by the large volume of bank-held loans maturing this year and the need to refinance those positions,” says Reggie Booker, MBA’s associate vice president of commercial research. “The slowdown [from fourth-quarter 2025] is consistent with typical first-quarter seasonality and does not detract from…

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Inside the New Office Playbook: Designing for Today’s Tenants

Taylor Williams — Tue, 05 May 2026 11:58:00 +0000

With flexible work schedules now the norm, today’s modern office buildings must justify the commute. According to the Flex Index Q1 2026 report, a quarterly workplace trends report, 67 percent of U.S. companies now use a hybrid model. Gensler’s Global Workplace Survey 2026 also underscores a shift in employee priorities, with nearly half of employees (46 percent) noting that wellness amenities matter more than high-tech features in the office. To explore how these trends play out locally in leading commercial real estate markets, REBusinessOnline talked to Bill Baumgardner, who leads VanTrust’s Texas office as executive vice president, and Guy Grivas, vice president of Hillwood’s retail division. Those priorities are on display at Frisco Station, where VanTrust, Hillwood and The Rudman Partnership are developing a 242-acre mixed-use destination in Frisco’s North Platinum Corridor, about 30 minutes north of Dallas. Centered around The Star, the Dallas Cowboys’ world headquarters, the development brings together Class A office space, a mix of residential options and modern hotels — all within walking distance of dining, shopping and entertainment options — creating a seamless, experience-driven workday. REBusinessOnline: What are the top priorities for today’s employers when selecting an office building? Bill Baumgardner: To succeed, today’s workplace…

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C-PACE and Gross Leases: An Affordable Housing Solution

Hayden Spiess — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 11:19:00 +0000

By Bert Belanger, PACE Equity Seemingly every week, a commercial real estate publication publishes a story warning that nine out of 10 markets in America need more affordable housing units. Switching to an “all-bills-paid” mindset and utilizing Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing can help address this quandary. Going Through the PACEs In early 2021, after a 40-year career as a real estate lawyer, consultant and developer focused on affordable housing, I began “selling money.” By this, I mean that I was sourcing capital for PACE Equity, a Milwaukee-based private debt firm focused on providing C-PACE funding. Since C-PACE was new to my home state of Oklahoma, I was initially unfamiliar with its characteristics, but the practice of so-called “green building” was something I had experienced firsthand. I hoped that my mixture of experience might make me a unicorn — a guy who knew how to meld obtuse government subsidized housing tools with C-PACE, all for the greater good. However, I have quickly learned that mixing C-PACE with government-assisted housing financing tools is a non-starter. Why? Because cash flows within government-subsidized financings are thin by design, leaving no room for debt service beyond a small senior loan. Real Deals and Real Savings…

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Inside the Shifting World of Retail Construction

Abby Cox — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 11:45:00 +0000

Let’s get down to brass tacks: there’s not a lot of new retail space being built. What is getting developed reflects a fundamental shift in how retail functions. At the same time, construction itself is becoming more strategic and tech enabled. Developers and contractors are leveraging data, artificial intelligence (AI) and flexible design approaches to better predict demand, reduce risk and adapt spaces for multiple tenants or uses over time. The result is a sector that is leaner, more intentional and increasingly focused on creating places people want to visit. The Big Picture: How the Market Has Changed Retail construction has shifted significantly from the pre-pandemic era to today, shaped by higher material costs, disrupted supply chains and evolving consumer demand. Before 2020, projects benefitted from relatively stable pricing, predictable timelines and a strong emphasis on in-person shopping environments. Since then, inflation and global supply chain volatiltiy have driven up the cost of key materials, while also extending lead times and forcing developers to plan more conservatively. Carolyn Shames, CEO and president of Shames Construction, shared an anecdote about two identical Walmarts that were built by her company — one before the COVID-19 pandemic and one after. The difference in price…

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Next Generation of Office Space Is Designed to Perform

John Nelson — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 11:57:00 +0000

Walk through almost any office today and you will likely see a familiar scene: employees sitting at their desks wearing headphones, speaking into laptops and participating in video calls. Some are presenting to colleagues working remotely. Others are joining quick internal check-ins or connecting with clients across the country. Individually, these conversations are part of the normal rhythm of modern work. Together, they can create a surprising amount of background noise. This reality is one of the biggest forces reshaping office design. For years, workplace design emphasized openness. Walls came down, benching systems replaced private offices and large collaboration areas were introduced to encourage interaction. But as hybrid work has become the norm, organizations are recognizing that offices must support a wider range of activities than they once did. Employees still come to the office to collaborate and connect. At the same time, many arrive with schedules filled with focused individual work and virtual meetings that require quiet and concentration. As a result, workplace design is evolving. Instead of choosing between open offices and private offices, organizations are focusing on balance, creating workplaces that support focus, collaboration and connection within the same space. Privacy returning to offices One of the…

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The Best Commercial Buying Window Will Begin in 2029. Here’s What To Do Until Then

Taylor Williams — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 11:27:00 +0000

By Alan Stalcup, founder, CEO, GVA Real Estate Group Many investors are watching the distressed commercial real estate market and waiting for the moment to buy. That moment isn’t here yet. But the debt market? That’s a different conversation. By some estimates, more than $600 billion of multifamily debt matured across 2024 and 2025 — the largest two-year concentration on record. Lenders extended roughly $400 billion of those loans over the past several years. Most of them are coming due again. Same assets. Same problems. Higher rates, deflated values, limited options to refinance or sell. And to see what that looks like up close, look at the state of Texas. More than $800 million a month in commercial loans have hit foreclosure auctions in this state for four straight months. About 70 percent of those loans are backed by apartments. Houston alone saw $250 million in multifamily debt go to auction in a single week last summer. Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and Houston delivered record levels of new apartments between 2022 and 2024. All that supply is now sitting on top of the debt problem. Rent rolls are coming in below levels that were underwritten at origination. The income isn’t there.…

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CoStar: U.S. Retail Construction Activity Remains Stymied Through the First Quarter

John Nelson — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 12:00:45 +0000

ARLINGTON, VA. — U.S. retail construction activity totaled 64.2 million square feet in the first quarter, down from 70 million square feet in first-quarter 2025 and well below the 10-year average (+90 million square feet), according to research from CoStar Group. Brandon Svec, national director of retail analytics at CoStar Group, points to multiple governors for new retail construction, including the popularity of e-commerce, competition from other property types and the previous cycles of broad-based expansion in the retail industry. Additionally, he says elevated costs for land, construction materials, labor and debt have made it difficult for retail developers to justify new construction. “The pullback in construction reflects a development environment that remains difficult to pencil in most markets,” says Svec. “Even in markets with strong population growth and leasing demand, achieving returns that justify ground-up construction has become increasingly challenging.” Data from the Arlington-based commercial real estate information and analytics firm shows that the nation’s retail development pipeline is sinking to levels not seen since the previous two cyclical lows: the early stages of the COVID-19 recovery and coming out of the Great Financial Crisis in 2011. Among markets tracked by CoStar, three Texas markets are leading the way…

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