Midwest

By Chris Bruzas, Berkadia While the COVID-19 pandemic has had a dramatic impact on the commercial real estate industry, bright spots have emerged across the multifamily landscape. Nationally, secondary and tertiary markets demonstrate resilience and strong performance, despite challenging circumstances. One of these bright spots is Indiana. Since the start of the year, Berkadia’s investment sales and mortgage banking teams have closed more than $498 million in combined sales and financing across the state. While Indiana has long been a solid market in the Midwest, in recent years it has emerged as particularly attractive to investors for a few key reasons. Available scale The ability to acquire scale is increasingly important to investors looking to break into new markets and MSAs. Immediate scale is attractive for several reasons. For investors, acquisition at scale enhances geographic and unit diversification at the outset. It also allows investors, specifically those new to the region, to maximize business efficiencies on expenses. If a new buyer can acquire 1,000 units in proximity, they can reduce the burden of staff, construction costs and travel costs, to name a few. Additionally, it helps with leasing. If a prospective tenant tours a property that doesn’t have floor plans …