Commercial Property Executive

Climate regulation is sweeping the nation, and commercial real estate is often the focal point of environmentalists, legislators, and regulators.

Welcome back to Sustainability Street, our podcast on the intersection of commercial real estate and the world we live in. For this episode, I am joined by Anca Gagiuc, CPE's climate and energy editor, and you'll also hear insights from Yardi Energy's Randy Moss.

We'll take you inside some of the new groundbreaking local, state and federal rules designed to get building owners counting and reporting their carbon emissions, and making a plans for remediating them.

As mentioned in previous episodes, ESG is not a voluntary practice anymore. It is increasingly mandatory, and, while these compulsory practices make the planet cleaner, they can have a big impact on operations and asset values.

• What these rules have in common (2:00)
• Local Law 97 in action (3:14)
• The role of RECs (7:20)
• Boston's Local Law 97 (10:47)
• California's Climate Accountability Package (13:13)
• The "California Effect" and regulations to come (17:05)
• Will the final SEC Climate Disclosure Rules stick? (21:24)

Professors of Architecture Ellen Dunham-Jones and June Williamson have been tracking changes in suburban areas since the early 1990s. They put their observations in a series of books about retrofitting suburbia, hoping that they will serve both young architects and city planners who are looking for models to replicate in their own suburban areas. Their first book, Retrofitting Suburbia, was published in 2008 and updated in 2011.

The pair’s second book—Case Studies in Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Strategies for Urgent Challenges, released in 2021—serves the starting point of an insightful conversation between the two authors and Commercial Property Executive Senior Editor Laura Calugar. In this special edition of our podcasts (a video version is available on YouTube), they dive into what is stimulating change in how and where people live, and discuss trends shaping suburban America.

Brick and mortar retail is on a roll again, and that’s no surprise to Josh Poag. The pendulum, he points out, always swings back. And he’s in a good position to know.

As the CEO of Poag Development Group—and with more than a quarter century in the business—Poag leads a firm whose predecessor developed the first purpose-built lifestyle center in the U.S.

These days, Poag Development is still out in front. At a time when new retail projects are still relatively rare, the company is planning what’s believed to be the only new lifestyle center underway in the U.S.

In this episode, he weighs on the trends that are shaping the next generation of these properties. You’ll also hear about Josh Poag’s unexpected journey. As a chemical engineering student at Princeton, he had no intention of joining the family business. Yet he discovered that commercial real estate offers opportunities for creativity, for contributing to communities, that have become his passion.

Episode highlights:

Brick and mortar, back in favor (1:46)

Top retailer trends to watch in ‘24 (3:33)

Why institutional investors love retail—again (5:20)

The customer experience and the evolution of marketing (7:44)

Inventing the modern lifestyle center (9:48)

New and legacy projects: What goes around, comes around (12:25)

The joint venture that’s helping launch the company’s next era (16:04)

Mix-and-match redevelopment (22:43)

Building lifestyle centers: discovering the joy of creation (26:56)

Why a broad education builds a solid background for business (32:55) 

Poag Development’s CEO goes off the clock (37:17)

Welcome back to Sustainability Street, our podcast on the intersection of commercial real estate and the world we live.

For this episode, I invited Breanna Wheeler, director of Operations for BREEAM USA, back on the program to discuss the certification organization's impressive recent growth.

She also previewed BREEAM's much-anticipated Version 7, which will reflect the latest science in controlling carbon emissions and developments in international regulation.

Wheeler, whose knowledge about and passion for sustainability comes through loud and clear, has led the North American arm of the BREEAM International rating system since it landed on U.S. soil in 2016. BREEAM International was founded in 1990, about a decade ago.

Here's a sample of the topics covered:

• Inside BREEAM's growth (1:38)
• BREEAM's new and improved version (4:07)
• The devil in the details of defining net zero (8:29)
• Resiliency and decarbonization (11:00)
• The question of adaptive reuse (13:21)
• Fear vs. opportunity (17:05)
• Wheeler's "action" plan for the industry (21:24)

Nearly 60 percent of women cited interest rates as their primary concern when it comes to escalating costs for commercial real estate projects and deals. This was one of the main findings of CREW Network’s latest survey that covered global economic sentiment and a range of industry topics, including barriers to career advancement. Almost 1,000 professionals provided their responses in the fourth CRE Women Speak survey series that was distributed in December.

In this podcast interview with Commercial Property Executive Senior Editor Laura Calugar, CREW Network CEO Wendy Mann also revealed that four out of five women in the industry admit they’ve encountered barriers to their career advancement. Press PLAY and listen to the entire conversation!

Office is on a slow recovery path, and it is said that 2024 will be a transitional phase that will ultimately bring the sector closer to a post-pandemic norm. Several structural trends are bifurcating the market, so we asked industry veteran Glenn Brill, who serves as managing director with FTI Consulting, to share his views in the first episode this year of our quarterly podcast series, FTI Experts’ Hub.

Camille Renshaw has closed upward of $30 billion in deals, but she got her start in commercial real estate after an earlier life as a technology entrepreneur. She became an owner when she sold a successful startup and invested some of the proceeds in commercial real estate assets. At first her goal was to become a better owner, but she soon caught the bug for the business itself.

She went on to serve in senior positions at several top brokerage firms before she co-founded B+E in 2017. She’s made major contributions to net lease investment and 1031 exchanges, and of equal note, she’s an innovator in commercial real estate technology.

In 2020, her accomplishments earned her recognition by her fellow real estate executives as both CPE’s Innovator of the Year and Net Lease Executive of the Year. In this episode of Investment Matters, you’ll hear her thoughts on 1031 exchange trends, what’s ahead for the debt markets, the changing role of technology and much more.

Episode highlights:

1:58 Takeaways from 2023

4:05 Top 1031 Exchange trends

6:32 Generational wealth strategies

8:56 Debt markets and net lease

12:47 Family offices pick their spots

14:41 An overlooked issue in securing debt

16:57 Where the 1031 action is

18:51 Good time for sale-leasebacks?

20:24 Catching the bug for brokerage

24:18 Learning the ropes

26:36 Brokers and technology come together

28:34 Launching a platform

30:38 CRE’s technology report card

34:48 Off the clock: From the Alps to the Appalachian Trail

There's no sign of a meaningful improvement in momentum across commercial real estate markets, but there are a few reasons to be somewhat more optimistic about the outlook for 2024, according to the fourth quarter Global Commercial Real Estate Monitor released by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in London. Tune in to hear what RICS Senior Economist Tarrant Parsons revealed to Commercial Property Executive Senior Editor Laura Calugar in the first episode this year of our quarterly podcast series!

For CRE investors, an understanding of environmental, social and governance considerations has quickly gone from a nice-to-have to a must-have, according to Uma Moriarity, global ESG lead for CenterSquare Investment Management. And that will only intensify given mounting regulation and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events.

Welcome back to Sustainability Street, our podcast on the intersection of commercial real estate and the world we live in. In my latest episode, Moriarity and I discuss the drivers that make having an ESG strategy compulsory rather than voluntary, and how her firm tracks and manages these factors in its listed and private real estate investments. Here's a sample of the topics covered:

• Who is CenterSquare? (1:42)
• ESG data and global REIT investment (3:10)
• Influencing impacts on the private side (6:53)
• Is ESG one thing or three separate things? (10:28)
• Rising insurance costs and due diligence (15:52)
• Regulatory pressures on the horizon(19:32)

During Shlomo Chopp’s two decades in commercial real estate, his experience has touched on investment management, finance, securitization, brokerage and technology. These days he’s got a full plate as managing partner of Terra Strategies, a diversified investment management, finance and advisory firm.

But when he does allow himself a breather, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll find him with a book in his hand. On any given day, it could be a memoir by a commercial real estate titan or a 2,500-year-old Chinese treatise on military strategy.

Chopp says that his lifelong love of learning has helped train his mind and provided the capacity to navigate extremely complex investment and finance deals, but it’s more than that. It provides valuable insights into life and business that he brings to his work every day.

In this conversation, he offers perspectives on finance, investment and real estate trends that are subtle, plain-spoken and humorous.

In this lively and thought-provoking conversation, Chopp weighs in on the opportunities and challenges ahead in distressed assets, and on the property categories that are most likely to be at risk.

No less compelling are his comments on special servicing, the fine art of negotiation, and setting career goals. And he has some no-nonsense advice to young professionals who aspire to the top tiers of success in a tough business.  

Episode highlights:

Market dislocation and the prospects for 2024 (2:15)

The sector that’s most at risk of distress right now—and how other property categories stack up (3:53)

Inside Terra Strategies’ approach to investment (7:26)

Why special servicing is “one of the one of the most difficult negotiations you could ever be in” (11:19)

What CMBS is up against; special servicing practices (17:37)

Drive for success and the value of perpetual learning (21:37)

Shout-out to mentors (25:30)

No. 1 suggestion for young professionals—and some blunt advice (28:40)

Must-reads for success (32:12)

Off the clock (38:55)

In January, the Biden administration will release its definition for zero emissions buildings. At last, the Federal government will provide much-needed clarity when it comes to green commitments and the growing collection of state and local regulations and standards.

Welcome Back to Sustainability Street, our podcast on the intersection of commercial real estate and the world we live in. For this episode, I spoke to executives at some of the trade organizations that are weighing in on definition. They talked about the significance of this move and the momentum behind it.

Here's a sample of the topics covered:

• Three core principles (1:43)
• Stitching together disparate regulations (3:30)
• ASHRAE moves first (4:15)
• From research to reality (5:14)
• Zero energy or zero emissions? (6:10)
• The challenge of existing stock (9:09)

Commercial real estate sentiment across the globe has remained largely unchanged, according to the third quarter Global Commercial Property Monitor survey released by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in London. The general tone of the results in most parts of the world—for both occupiers and investors—remains quite downbeat, which is not surprising considering the scale in monetary tightening we’ve seen from many central banks, according to Senior Economist Tarrant Parsons.

Tune in to find out all about the best- and worst-performing world regions!

"I strongly believe within five years not only are we going to be back in office five days a week, but we’re going to be business attire. I'm talking suit and tie, Monday through Thursday, and it’s going to be business casual on Fridays," FTI Consulting Senior Managing Director Mark Dunec told Commercial Property Executive Senior Editor Laura Calugar during this special edition of the FTI Experts' Hub series. This prediction is rooted in Dunec's belief that businesses—including CRE ones—are suffering from the lack of face-to-face interactions and relationships. Not being in the office is also impacting the process of forming cohesion among colleagues. The non-stop learning environment in the office has faded and work culture is severely affected. Because of remote work, the office sector is under immense pressure, with office property valuations plummeting in the past few years.

In this episode, Dunec shares his CRE predictions, touching on what to expect for office valuations.

In July, CREW Network surveyed 1,028 commercial real estate professionals to gather data and gain insight into the sentiments and adoption of ESG efforts in the industry. CREW’s survey found that even though three-quarters of industry professionals consider ESG to be important in their companies, there is still much work to be done in executing an ESG strategy and aligning those efforts with advancing women and other underrepresented groups. Wendy Mann, the CEO of CREW Network, talks about the most striking figures.

Industrial real estate will be the hardest property type to decarbonize, experts say, since tenants pay their utility bills directly. Link Logistics is determined to change that.

Welcome back to Sustainability Street, CPE’s podcast on the intersection of commercial real estate and the world we live in. For this episode, I interviewed Sam Stockdale, head of Sustainability for Link Logistics, on the company's carbon reduction goals and its strategy for resolving industrial real estate's split incentive.

Here’s a sample of the topics covered:

• On a mission from Blackstone (1:40)
• Industrial's principal-agent problem (4:55)
• Preparing for increasing energy demands (7:49)
• Next-level building utility data (10:09)
• Course-correcting industrial's operating model (12:07)
• Solving the fleet equation (17:03)

If commercial real estate and the world are going to meet their 2030 decarbonization goals, property owners and tenants will need to work together. So, now that more corporations are setting targets and reporting their emissions, the sustainability community is hoping that green leasing will now scale to where it needs to be. 

Welcome back to Sustainability Street, CPE’s podcast on the intersection of commercial real estate and the world we live in. For this episode, Executive Editor Therese Fitzgerald blends together a number of expert interviews to delve into the state of green leasing: the opportunities, the challenges, and some best practices.

Here’s a sample of the topics covered:

Why green leases are critical (2:14)
Hurdles to overcome (4:48)
A new business paradigm (7:34)
Why data is the linchpin (9:58)
ESG and leasing teams as partners (11:25)
Performance-based leasing (12:44)

Patrick Luther has been on our radar for most of the past decade. Back in 2015, he was named a CPE Star to Watch, one of the young professionals representing the rising generation of industry leaders.

The following year, he joined SRS, where he and his longtime business partner, Matthew Mousavi, co-founded the firm’s Net Lease Retail Advisory Group. Since then, Luther has earned recognition as a top commercial real estate investment adviser.

A fast starter, he'd already earned his residential sales license by the time he was 19. His challenging apprenticeship as a leasing agent during the Great Financial Crisis turned out to be invaluable experience for a career in investment sales. Today's tough environment, Luther says, demands not just technical knowledge but outstanding versatility, problem-solving and people skills.

Asked for his advice to new brokerage professionals, he stresses the importance of old-school practices: "You can't just run a brokerage business sitting at a computer or on a phone."

Highlights of this episode include:

• Inspiration for a CRE career in high school (2:49)
• A foot in the door during the GFC (4.03)
• Why leasing is "where the rubber meets the road" (5:23)
• Trends to watch in retail and net lease (6:58)
• Navigating the bid-ask gap (9:10)
• Lending, borrowing and the quest for capital (13:02)
• Making sense of cap rates (17:09)
• How healthy competition, mentorship and learning from peers intersect (19:56)
• Brokers' changing roles in tough times (23:00)
• The timeless value of old-school business practices (27:00)
• Off the clock: "the greatest luxury on Earth" (31:43)

Having helped Microsoft on its sustainability journey, CBRE's Rob Bernard knows how data and sophisticated computing can address big environmental questions.

Welcome back to Sustainability Street, CPE’s podcast on the intersection of commercial real estate and the world we live in. During this episode, Executive Editor Therese Fitzgerald and Bernard discuss his first six months as CBRE's chief sustainability officer and senior vice president of Client Sustainability Solutions.  According to Bernard, the CRE ecosystem is at the crossroads of simultaneous industrial revolutions: rapid changes in technology and the advent of AI, and the decarbonization of the built environment. 

Here's a sample of the topics covered:

A background in buildings, technology and sustainability (1:38)

How is real estate doing? (3:52)

CBRE's goals and benchmarks (6:28)

AI, data and sustainability (8:40)

Leading the way for clients (14:22)

The embodied carbon challenge (18:47)

Although there are no dramatic changes in commercial property sentiment from the previous quarter, persistent inflation and deteriorating credit conditions are slowing economic activity across the world. In this episode of RICS Monitor, Commercial Property Executive Senior Editor Laura Calugar and RICS Senior Economist Tarrant Parsons talk about the commercial real estate trends reported by investors and occupiers across the world.

Women in commercial real estate expressed a moderate level of concern and held a shared belief that a short or mild recession may be on the horizon, according to a recent survey among CREW Network members. Alyssa Dangler, CREW Network President and Williams Mullen shareholder, told Commercial Property Executive Senior Editor Laura Calugar all about the resources available to CREW members to help them navigate through upcoming uncertainty.

The office sector as we knew it before 2020 is dead—this perception is very common in commercial real estate, although there still are some voices that believe it is just a myth. For Rob Raymond, managing director at FTI Consulting, the myth is more of a reality than we think. In a podcast interview with Commercial Property Executive Senior Editor Laura Calugar, Raymond painted a fairly grim picture for office real estate for the rest of 2023, but he also talked about the silver linings.

In this episode of Investment Matters, Williams Equities Managing Principal Michael Cohen shares not only insights into the nation's largest office market, but also a colorful company history that predates the Great Depression.

Since its co-founding in 1926 by Victor Cohen, our guest's grandfather, the firm has journeyed from up-and-coming brokerage to generational owner. One asset has been in the company portfolio for 70 years and counting. Another property played a featured role in a hit Tom Hanks movie and has been seen by audiences around the world.

Cohen himself has worn many hats during his four decades: broker, asset manager, entrepreneur and owner. He reminisces about starting his career as an office leasing agent, equipped with a desk and a phone during the analog era. It was a challenging and, at times, even humbling education, but as Cohen observes, it was also “a great way to learn the deal side of the business.”

Today, he leads Williams Equities in close collaboration with his fellow managing principals, Andy Roos and Rob Getreau. He is also president of Colliers International's Tri-State region. Previously, Cohen has served as chairman of GVA Worldwide Ltd., a global partnership. And one more distinctive role: A lifelong theater devotee, Cohen is also a Tony Award-winning producer of a hit Broadway musical.

Welcome back to Sustainability Street, CPE’s podcast on the intersection of commercial real estate and the world we live in. For this episode, Executive Editor Therese Fitzgerald interviews Manikka Brown, executive director of Project REAP (Real Estate Associate Program).

This year, Project REAP has been working to diversify the CRE talent pipeline for 25 years. So to mark to the occasion, the organization conducted a quantitative and qualitive analysis of its work to date. Brown discusses the survey results, her own paths to CRE entrepreneurship and to REAP, and directions for the future.

Here’s a sample of the topics covered:

• Project REAP's mission (1:03)
• The pandemic and new opportunities (2:12)
• REAP's survey results (4:10)
• Maintaining the momentum for DEI (10:53)
• Brown's road to REAP (14:10)
• Invisible biases in CRE (17:48)
• Brown's call to action (20:05)

Worldwide, commercial real estate activity is still struggling for momentum, but the first signs of a turnaround can be seen in select areas. According to the first quarter Global Commercial Property Monitor released by The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in London, only 54 percent of the survey respondents globally view their real estate market as being in a downturn, compared to 62 percent in the previous quarter. Tarrant Parsons, senior economist with RICS, told Commercial Property Executive Senior Editor Laura Calugar that the latest set of results show that both investors and occupiers across the world are still relatively cautious. Tune in to hear all about the mixed picture and contrasting views of the real estate market around the world!

Andrew Joblon, founder & managing partner of Turnbridge Equities, makes it a goal to look ahead of the competition. Among his company's signature development projects is New York City's largest current logistics developments, which features a multilevel design that is still uncommon in the sector.

In this episode, he also comments on a key market whose potential he compares to that demonstrated by Austin a decade ago. Joblon offers insights into the competitive value of building during a slowdown with the next cycle's demand in view.

Since starting Turnbridge in 2014, Joblon has pursued a strategy that is eclectic by asset category and varied by location. Geographically, the company's investments focus on carefully selected markets that range from coast to coast. In this conversation, Joblon discusses the value of combining an opportunistic outlook with cautious execution.

Joblon suggests that his perspective was influenced by an early job in structured finance. That experience, he says, "(helps) you understand everything from a risk perspective." However, this month's guest is himself no stranger to taking calculated risks; he calls leaving a secure position to start his own company both "an incredibly scary moment" and "probably the best decision I ever made."

Episode highlights:

1:16 Turning point: launching Turnbridge

3:59: Finding opportunity while proceeding with caution

6:16: Taking the long view in supply-constrained markets

8:10: Perspectives on the office sector

10:55 Why industrial is really two asset classes

14:12 Lasting lessons from an early job

16:20 Giving credit to mentors

17:42 Inside a massive NYC logistics project with an unusual twist

23:01 An East Coast market with Austin-caliber potential

27:02 Off the clock: playing the world’s fastest-growing sport

As a diversity ambassador leader for her local office in Roseland, N.J., FTI Consulting Managing Director Asha Shettigar is involved in several initiatives that are geared toward helping women and other under-represented groups progress in their careers. FTI's various programs and resources aim to create an inclusive environment for all employees, empowering them to reach their highest potential through career training, professional development courses, mentorship opportunities and networking. In this episode, Shettigar expands on how all these initiatives help build a strong, diverse team that will ultimately push for growth.

Fiona Cousins, chair of the Americas for global engineering firm Arup, was part of the 16-member advisory board tasked with helping turn New York City's behemoth Local Law 97 into a set of decarbonization procedures and performance standards that buildings owners could comply with. The board, along with a number of working groups, met for hundreds of hours over three years.

Welcome back to Sustainability Street, our podcast on the intersection of commercial real estate and the world we live in. In this episode, host CPE Executive Editor Therese Fitzgerald and Cousins discuss Local Law 97, the role of regulation vs. incentives in meeting carbon reduction goals, and the critical role that engineers have to play in public policy.  "All these problems are at the root engineering problems," Cousins observed.

Here’s a sample of the topics covered:

• Room for interpretation in Local Law 97 (1:38)
• Overcoming compliance challenges (3:28)
• Carrots or sticks or both? (8:57)
• The regulatory landscape in the U.S. and globally (12:37)
• Why the engineer's voice is so important (19:10)

Investors, advisers and lenders are looking for answers to crucial questions about the real estate capital markets. Interest rate hikes, together with conflicting economic signals, are stalling activity in the market. In this episode of Investment Matters, Crescit Capital Strategies Founder & Managing Partner Joe Iacono offers perspective on what’s ahead at this challenging time.

Iacono brings the perspective of a real estate career that started when he was a teenager. He bought his first property when he was still in high school, and went on earn degrees from Rollins College and Columbia University, where he earned his master’s in real estate.

Over the course of his 30-year career, Iacono has held hold senior positions at a series of blue-chip companies, with special expertise in securitization. As a managing director at JP Morgan Chase, he directed the nationwide CMBS origination and securitization team. He developed the CMBS conduit lending platform at PaineWebber, helped to create one of the industry’s first securitization programs at Daiwa Securities America and was a co-founder of the commercial real estate business at Credit Suisse First Boston.

Highlights of this episode include:

· Learning the ropes of CRE finance (1:35)

· Capital flows and securitization amid volatility (4:00)

· Debt and deal dynamics (8:50)

· Making sense of cap rates (14:22)

· CMBS, CLO outlook (16:55)

· Career turning points (20:16)

· Lessons of the Great Financial Crisis (23:08)

· Investing opportunistically (26:18)

· The bid-ask gap (28:55)

· Off the clock: a man of many interests (33:24)

· How will the market adjust to volatility? (35:31)

To amplify the sound of women’s demands beyond the corner office, two female CRE leaders joined forces: Kaitlin Kincaid, principal & founder of search and advisory firm Keller Augusta, and Wendy Mann, CEO of CREW Network. Both of them talked to Commercial Property Executive Senior Editor Laura Calugar about the job market today, why women need to express their professional demands, and the active role that company leaders play in advancing an equitable workforce.

With a $30 billion development pipeline, the Trammell Crow Co. is in a position to innovate on sustainable construction, building electrification, and energy efficiency—both here and abroad. James Murray-Coleman has been tackling that challenge head-on since becoming Director of Sustainability 10 months ago.

Welcome back to Sustainability Street, our podcast on the intersection of commercial real estate and the world we live in. For this episode, CPE Executive Editor Therese Fitzgerald interviewed Murray-Coleman about how the company is tackling the challenges of embodied carbon, operational carbon and onsite renewables. Here's a sample of the topics covered:

• Next-level green buildings (1:35)
• Counting carbon in construction  (4:21)
• Mass timber construction (5:48)
• Trammell Crow and solar (7:20)
• Building electrification (9:52)
• Europe-U.S. idea exchange (12:52)
• The role of certifications (15:49)
• Energy-star equipment (17:45)

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ latest research shows that the higher borrowing costs are really weighing on buyer activity, with the investment market bearing the brunt of the impact of tighter monetary policies across many parts of the world. However, the overall message stemming from the Q4 Global Commercial Property Monitor is that we’re seeing a period of adjustment or a bit of a shakeout in aggregate across global markets, as Economist Tarrant Parsons puts it in Commercial Property Executive’s latest podcast. Press play to hear what Parsons told CPE Senior Editor Laura Calugar in this podcast episode about the CRE sentiment in each world region. 

Most properties built today use as little energy and as much renewable energy as possible. But there is a huge inventory of existing properties that must be retrofitted in order to improve their energy efficiency and reduce their carbon emissions.

Without a significant retrofit push in the commercial real estate space, the U.S. will not reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Meanwhile, a large swath of underperforming buildings may no longer be acceptable to sustainability-minded investors and tenants.

Welcome back to Sustainability Street, our podcast on the intersection of commercial real estate and the world we live in. For this episode, host CPE Executive Editor Therese Fitzgerald chats with Chris Gray, chief technology officer of RENU Communities, a subsidiary of Taurus Investments, about the importance of and strategies for retrofitting existing buildings. 

Here’s a sample of the topics covered:

• Why energy retrofits matter so much (1:20)
• Brown discount vs. green premium (2:25)
• The key retrofit strategies (5:14)
• Retrofits and renewable energy (8:34)
• What retrofits mean for the housing market (10:11)
• The case for retrofits in today's current office market (21:35)
• Retrofits and the Inflation Reduction Act (23:54)

It's fitting that Kairos Investment Management gets its name from the Greek word for "opportunity." Carl Chang, the firm's co-founder & CEO, has decades of experience creating opportunity and then making the most of it. In his current role he oversees a diversified multibillion-dollar portfolio of commercial and multifamily assets. Yet few commercial real estate executives have achieved such a high level of success in such varied fields. 

A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Chang had a distinguished career in professional tennis well before launching his business career. He was named coach of the year by Tennis magazine for, among other contributions, coaching his brother Michael, the tennis Hall of Famer and Grand Slam tournament champion. The rigors of that experience, among other factors, provided a strong foundation for his business success. Alongside his real estate career, Chang has also founded a thriving national restaurant franchise.

In this conversation, Chang reveals how these eclectic experiences continue to inform his approach to running his investment company. He discusses key industry issues as what's ahead for the real estate capital markets, adjusting strategy post-pandemic and the challenge of bringing workers back to the market. And he even offers a few words about playing such tennis legends as Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras (and winning matches with them).   

In this episode, you'll hear about: 

• The value of early experience in pro tennis (1:37)
• Building a career in commercial real estate investment (5:44)
• The importance of being "Kairos" (7:35)
• CRE insights: bringing back office workers, 2023 investment and other trends (9:11)
• Takeaways from creating a successful restaurant franchise (14:44) 
• What regional advisory boards contribute to the Fed (18:23)
• Where the economy and real estate capital markets are headed (21:31)
• Pivoting on investment strategy post-pandemic (24:57)

Following the two-week COP27 conference in Egypt, the U.S Green Building Council issued a call for greater action and accountability to address climate change. That's because the consensus of global leaders and environmentalists at the conference was that the buildings industry, which accounts for 37 percent of energy and process-related CO2 emissions and 34 percent of energy demand, is not on track to achieve net zero by 2050.

Welcome back to Sustainability Street, our podcast on the intersection of commercial real estate and the world we live in. For this episode, host CPE Executive Editor Therese Fitzgerald interviews Liz Beardsley, USGBC Lead Policy Counsel, on what she heard and saw at the high-level meeting.

Here's a sample of the topics covered:

• Is the world running out of time? (2:21)
• Reality check for real estate (4:09)
• The "greenwashing" report (8:23)
• U.S. states and cities on the world stage (10:28)
• Are we doing our part as a nation? (14:24)
• The sustainability communication gap (16:50)
• What real estate companies and countries can do before COP28 (20:14)

Managing workplaces for the generational divide is more challenging than ever. Younger employees feel like they don’t need to be in the office to be productive, while older generations tend to stick to what they’ve known for years: going to the office for work. How can team managers lead when their workforce has such different views? And what does all this mean for office landlords? FTI Consulting Managing Director Rob Raymond weighs in in a new episode of our quarterly series, hosted by Commercial Property Executive Senior Editor Laura Calugar.

Here's what you'll hear about:

• Top 3 challenges when leading multi-generational teams today (0:52)
• Is customizing benefits offerings to core demographics a good idea? (1:42)
• Managing office space today (2:26)
• Attracting the younger workforce to the office (3:32)
• How Gen Z perceives the office environment (4:51)
• Employee loyalty and turnover (8:10)
• How employers can show Gen Zers they appreciate them (10:06)
• Adapting management styles to motivate each generation (11:07)
• How the younger generations will reshape the workplace and its purpose in the future of work (13:12)
• Office footprints and the brewing recession (15:17)

According to CREW Network’s 2022 industry research paper, 88 percent of the companies that participated in this year’s survey were actively trying to hire. Commercial real estate companies have been taping into the potential of younger generations to fill in open positions, but they come with their own set of challenges. For this year’s last episode of Commercial Property Executive’s quarterly podcast series with CREW Network, Senior Editor Laura Calugar invited CEO Wendy Mann to talk about what the younger generations expect from their workplace, and how they will shape the future of CRE.

Here's a sample of what you'll hear about in this episode:

• Do Gen Zers want to work in commercial real estate? (1:03)
• How flexible is a career in commercial real estate? (3:53)
• CRE companies that Gen Zers want to work for (6:13)
• Turning challenges into opportunities (9:06)
• Retaining top CRE talent today (12:00)
• Can CRE companies offer Gen Zers all they want in an employer? (14:17)
• How an economic downturn would impact the Gen Z workforce (18:40)

The increasingly uncertain economic conditions continue to make an impact in commercial real estate around the world. Under pressure from both high inflation and monetary policy tightening, the commercial real estate sector in the Asia Pacific region appears to be facing downward risks, according to the latest RICS research paper. In Europe, the higher interest rates and weakening economic backdrop are weighing heavily on market sentiment, while the Q3 results across North America point to a further deterioration in sentiment, particularly for investment. The Middle East seems to be the standout performer in terms of the sentiment provided by contributors to the latest survey, led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Commercial Property Executive Senior Editor Laura Calugar talked to RICS Senior Economist Tarrant Parsons about the results of survey.

Here’s what you’ll hear about in this episode:

• The overall economic context (0:53)
• The standout performer in terms of the sentiment in Q3 (2:03)
• Industrial, office and retail demand across the globe (4:24)
• How credit conditions are impacting commercial development (6:16)
• Global capital values (7:47)
• The results of the latest survey in the APAC region (10:00)
• The situation in Europe (11:54)
• The commercial property market in Canada and the U.S. (13:26)
• Expectations for the global economy in Q4 (14:58)
• Will the global economy officially enter a recession in 2023? (16:15)

In this episode, Dr. Matthew Trowbridge, chief medical officer, International WELL Building Institute, tells host Therese Fitzgerald that health and wellness in the built environment is "the next big thing" in ESG reporting for investors.

Tracy Murphy is a pioneering executive in the dynamic field of life science real estate development and investment. In this episode of CPE's Investment Matters, the president and co-founder of IQHQ discusses the sector's outlook and challenges, where to find the sector's high-potential hubs and the company's landmark project on the San Diego waterfront. Highlights include:

• Key trends driving life science and development (2:52)
• RaDD, a landmark San Diego redevelopment where "lifestyle meets life science" (5:06)
• Murphy's path to leadership roles at three major investor-developers (7:09)
• Challenges—and progress—in expanding women's presence in life science real estate (11:35)
• Where to find the sector's most powerful hubs and rising stars (16:36)
• Is overbuilding a worry? (19:07)
• Tracy Murphy off the clock (22:57)

Last year, as the industry was still processing the lockdown and the pandemic, Lindsay Ornstein and Stephen Power took their collaboration to another level. They started a nonprofit advisory practice, which soon led to them launching OPEN Impact Real Estate, a brokerage and advisory services firm, affiliated with Transwestern. In little over a year, the company grew to include 13 team members, most of whom are women. In a conversation with Commercial Property Executive Senior Editor Alexandra Both, Ornstein shares her strategies for growing the company further as the market prepares for a slowdown in 2023. Here are some highlights:

• How to attract more women into CRE 3:37
• Vibe-cession vs. recession 7:58
• Strategizing for a slow 2023 9:55
• Office trends: flight to quality 11:58
• Office leasing in NYC 15:30
• Headwinds in the industry for brokers 20:35
• Challenges for CRE landlords 24:01
• Advice for women entering the industry 28:14

Concerned about making those costly energy retrofits? In this episode, host CPE Executive Editor Therese Fitzgerald discusses incentives and opportunities for property owners and users contained in the IRA. Her guests are: Josephine Tucker, managing director/head of Clean Energy & Infrastructure, JLL, and Mitch Worden, vice president, Clean Energy & Infrastructure, JLL. 

Welcome to Investment Matters, CPE’s podcast series with the leaders who are shaping CRE investment today. On this episode, we’ll hear from Marc DeLuca, a 30-year industry veteran and the new CEO of KBS.

In this lively and insightful conversation, DeLuca discusses why the Orange County, Calif.-based firm remains upbeat on the office sector. He details the firm’s investment strategy at a challenging time and offers perspective on the intersection of institutional investors and rising interest rates.

You’ll also hear about how early interests led to a distinguished career, and why economics training has taught him to resist pushing the panic button in unsettled times. Last but not least, DeLuca shares the unusual pastimes that let him unwind from long hours.

Highlights:

Bicoastal responsibilities (1:07)

An unconventional career path (3:58)

Economic training shapes a world view (8:19)

Topline office trends (10:26)

Interest rate insights (15:14)

KBS’ investment strategy (17:45)

A CEO off the clock (20:45)

Sentiment in real estate markets around the world is toning down, following consistent improvements in the past few quarters. The tightening in monetary policy and the rising inflation are weighing on the global economic outlook. Here’s what RICS Economist Tarrant Parsons revealed about the Q2 Global Commercial Property Monitor in this podcast episode:

• General ides stemming from the report (00:45)
• Respondents’ perceptions on where their local market is in the cycle (1:57)
• Global occupier demand by sector (3:10)
• Why investment activity is slowing down (4:14)
• Valuations (5:24)
• Real estate sentiment in specific regions: APAC, Europe, Middle East and Africa, North America (6:38)
• Is a global recession nearing? (12:04)

CPE Executive Editor Therese Fitzgerald interviews Heidi Creighton, Skanska USA Commercial Development's new head of Sustainability on what it means to be on the cutting edge of sustainable design and development today. According to Creighton, buildings that are good for people are usually good for the environment. 

Alyssa Carducci Dangler is a shareholder at Williams Mullen, a full-service law firm that provides strategic, skilled counsel to real estate professionals. Her practice focuses on commercial and multifamily real estate and finance, but also includes helping clients navigate through the challenges of solar and wind technologies. Currently, she serves on the board of directors for CREW Network and is 2022 president-elect. Here’s what you’ll hear about in this episode:

• Why she chose to specialize in real estate and finance (0:47)
• Advancements in solar and wind technologies (7:32)
• Advising clients in an inflationary environment  (9:50)
• The office and industrial sectors (12:17)
• Diversity in commercial real estate (14:57)
• How CREW Network shaped her career (18:10)
• Plans for 2023 (20:29)

Right now, as in many other fields, there’s a worldwide shortage of consultants, analysts and accountants, according to Jahn Brodwin, senior managing director with FTI Consulting. Brodwin and Senior Managing Director Ingrid Rivera Noone have recently been promoted to co-leaders of FTI’s real estate practice, and attracting and developing fresh talent is part their strategic growth plan. They both joined Commercial Property Executive Senior Editor Laura Calugar in a podcast interview on careers in real estate consulting and what it takes to be a successful advisor. Here are the main topics they covered:

• Skills that are especially in demand today (0:40)
• Educational requirements (2:25)
• Career advancement prospects (4:25)
• Mentorship in the real estate consulting profession (6:17)
• Working under pressure (8:43)
• Consultants and the state of the real estate market (11:49)
• Trends, expectations (14:28)