HOUSTON — SunStrong Management has signed an 18,280-square-foot office lease at the 52-acre Greenway Plaza office complex in Houston. The solar asset management and service firm will occupy space on the fifth floor at 20 Greenway Plaza, a 433,132-square-foot building. Alvarez & Marsal represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Steve Rocher and Rima Soroka of CBRE represented the landlord, Los Angeles-based Stockdale Capital Partners.
HOUSTON — Bank of America has signed a 70,914-square-foot office lease renewal at the 52-acre Greenway Plaza office complex in Houston. The banking giant will continue to occupy portions of the seventh and ninth floors at 20 Greenway Plaza, a 433,132-square-foot building. David Bale and Cody Little of JLL represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Steve Rocher and Rima Soroka of CBRE represented the landlord, Los Angeles-based Stockdale Capital Partners.
Interview by John Nelson What a difference a year can make. At this time last year, real estate professionals displayed a sense of confidence and optimism about their 2025 prospects. This year, tariffs, government shutdowns and stubborn inflation have led to a general sense of unease for the year ahead. So finds Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2026, the latest installment of the annual outlook for the commercial real estate industry that PwC and the Urban Land Institute (ULI) jointly publish. The organizations surveyed more than 1,700 stakeholders — including brokers, developers, investors and lenders — in this year’s report, which was adequately themed “Navigating the Fog.” REBusinessOnline recently caught up with Andrew Alperstein, real estate partner at PwC and editorial chair of the Emerging Trends report, to discuss creating the report, the resurgence of the Northeast and the health of several sectors, including seniors housing, self-storage and office. What follows is an edited interview: REBusinessOnline: Were there any surprises in the data or interview process as PwC and Urban Land Institute created ‘2026 Emerging Trends in Real Estate’? Andrew Alperstein: I’m involved in a lot of the interviews that we do, and I see the survey results and work with a …
ORLAND PARK, ILL. — Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has unveiled plans to open a first-of-its-kind retail store in the southern Chicago suburb of Orland Park. The planned brick-and-mortar store will occupy the long-vacant site of the former Petey’s II restaurant at the southwest corner of 159th Street and LaGrange Road. The Orland Park Village Board approved the project at its Jan. 19 meeting. Amazon’s plans call for a one-story building of approximately 230,000 square feet that will offer groceries, household essentials and general merchandise. The store would function similarly to a large-format retailer such as a Walmart Supercenter. The commercial retail store would be open to the public and is not a warehouse or distribution center. Both the Orland Park Plan Commission and the Board of Trustees have reviewed and approved the plan. The village is not providing any financial incentives to Amazon as part of this project. “When a global retailer of this scale considers investment in Orland Park, it sends a strong signal about the vitality of our community and the strategic importance of this corridor,” says Orland Park Mayor Jim Dodge. According to a release, Amazon’s proposed multimillion-dollar investment in Orland Park would generate millions in sales and …
OXON HILL, MD. — Sphere Entertainment Co. (NYSE: SPHR), the owner and operator of the Sphere venue in Las Vegas that opened in 2023, is partnering with locally based developer Peterson Cos. for a smaller Sphere venue in National Harbor, a waterfront neighborhood in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Oxon Hill. The planned project represents the second Sphere entertainment venue in the United States and third in the world following the future Sphere’s completion in Abu Dhabi. “Our focus has always been on creating a global network of Spheres across forward-looking cities,” says James Dolan, executive chairman and CEO of Sphere Entertainment. The site for Sphere at National Harbor overlooks the Potomac River and would complement other National Harbor mainstays such as MGM National Harbor, a $1.4 billion casino that opened in 2016, Capital Wheel, Gaylord National Resort and Topgolf. The more than 300-acre National Harbor district welcomes approximately 15 million visitors nationally. At full completion, the Sphere venue will feature the Exosphere, which is the Sphere’s programmable LED exterior display, as well as 6,000 seats for concerts, immersive movie presentations and other events. The new venue’s seating volume represents about a third of the 18,600-seat capacity at the Sphere …
ATLANTA — Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP has renewed its 148,000-square-foot lease at 1100 Peachtree, a 28-story office tower in Midtown Atlanta. The global law firm has leased space at the property since 1992 and has recommitted to a 15-year term. 1100 Peachtree is currently 76 percent leased. Sam Hollis, John Izard, Ken Ashley and Christian Taylor of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Brooke Dewey and Alexis Vondersaar of JLL serve as the primary leasing agents for 1100 Peachtree on behalf of ownership, Spear Street, which acquired the 584,066-square-foot office tower in May 2025. The owner is underway on a full refresh of the building’s conference and fitness centers. Completion of the renovation is scheduled for this quarter. Along with the renovation, Spear Street will also welcome two new food-and-beverage concepts — Dos Cominos and Paris Baguette — to the tower’s street-level retail component this year.
LOS ANGELES — Real estate investment firm JRK Property Holdings has announced its acquisition of a portfolio of three multifamily properties for $400 million. The portfolio includes apartment communities located in Seattle; Hoboken, N.J.; and Los Angeles totaling 803 units. The seller was Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR), a Chicago-based multifamily REIT. Centennial in Seattle features 408 units, 77 Park Avenue in Hoboken comprises 301 units, and C on Pico in Los Angeles totals 94 units. According to Trulia.com, C on Pico offers two-bedroom units, with monthly rental rates beginning at $3,325. Monthly rental rates at 77 Park Avenue begin at $3,655, according to Zillow.com. Rachel Parsons, Derrek Ostrzyzek and Kenji Thomas of CBRE represented Equity Residential in the transaction. Ryan Greer, also with CBRE, arranged an undisclosed amount of acquisition financing for the deal on behalf of JRK. “These recent acquisitions exemplify the type of high-quality, well-located assets we continue to target in today’s market,” says Daniel Lippman, president of JRK. “We believe the multifamily sector has reached an inflection point whereby we can acquire assets at a unique time where new supply subsides and long-term fundamentals remain strong. These dynamics create a compelling backdrop that gave us the conviction to …
CHICAGO — A partnership between LaTerra Capital Management and Respark Residential has agreed to acquire a portfolio of seven multifamily properties in suburban Chicago totaling 1,495 units. Multifamily owner-operator Aimco (NYSE: AIV) plans to sell the portfolio to the partnership for $455 million. The transaction is expected to close in first-quarter 2026, pending the assumption of the properties’ in-place mortgages. According to Crain’s Chicago Business, the portfolio comprises Evanston Place in Evanston; Hyde Park Tower in Chicago; Elm Creek and Eldridge Townhomes in Elmhurst; Yorktown Apartments and 220 Grace in Lombard; and Willow Bend in Rolling Meadows. Aimco recently concluded its year-long strategic review process and is moving forward with its “plan of sale and liquidation.” The Denver-based firm says that the buyers have completed due diligence and funded in part a $20 million nonrefundable deposit for the acquisition. Aimco says that the net proceeds from the sale will total $160 million. For LaTerra, the Aimco acquisition allows the Marina del Rey, Calif.-based company to increase its holdings in Chicago, which is currently the No. 1 market in the United States for rent growth, according to data from CoStar Group. The market saw 6,700 new units delivered in the past 12 …
HOUSTON — Fairstead, an affordable housing owner-operator based in New York City, has announced the $242 million acquisition and rehabilitation of Haverstock Hills, a 700-unit affordable housing property in Houston’s East Aldine neighborhood. Haverstock Hills comprises 44 two- and three-story buildings on a 22-acre site. Residences include a mix of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units, all of which are reserved for households earning 60 percent or less of the area median income. Fairstead plans to upgrade unit interiors, building exteriors and common areas, as well as enhance the amenities via an updated clubhouse, outdoor playground, laundry facilities and a business center. Fairstead will also invest in new safety and security measures across the property. Rainbow Housing Corp. will continue to provide onsite social services for residences of Haverstock Hills.
DECATUR, GA. — Crescent Communities plans to begin construction this month on NOVEL Lulah Hills, a 303-unit apartment community in Decatur. The six-story community, which will feature nearly 40,000 square feet of retail space on the ground level, is a multifamily component within Lulah Hills, EDENS’ 78-acre mixed-use redevelopment of the former North DeKalb Mall. The apartment community will offer a mix of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, as well as a pool with cabanas, a beer and game garden, outdoor dining spaces, flexible space for workshops and events, a craft closet, stocked dining pantry and a terrace with firepits and lounge seating. The overall Lulah Hills project, delivered over multiple phases in the coming years, will offer approximately 300,000 square feet of retail and restaurants, a Publix grocery store, 1,800 residential units and multiple green spaces. Crescent Communities plans to deliver NOVEL Lulah Hills in late 2027.