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How Multifamily Site Selection Is Evolving in the Modern Economy
Development site selection is a complex and intensive process, and acquisition teams often spend considerable time touring locations, vetting and underwriting potential sites, and conducting market research to determine project profitability. The decision is high stakes: countless time will be spent securing land or property, navigating zoning restrictions, acquiring vendors, and breaking ground on construction.…
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Where CRE Teams Are Breaking Ground in Today’s Construction Environment
In 2021 and 2022, developers broke ground on a record number of new apartment projects. Then in 2023, the construction activity came to an abrupt halt. High borrowing and construction costs paired with macroeconomic headwinds gave developers pause, with some suspending or delaying existing projects. The pause in new construction wasn’t for a lack of…
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Interest Rate Cuts: What Commercial Real Estate Developers Should Know
It finally happened. At its September meeting, the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee voted to reduce interest rates by half a point. The move came much later than the industry hoped. Many leading experts opened the year with predictions that the first rate cut would come in March, followed by five others this year. That…
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Why Every Real Estate Developer Should Pursue Fit-for-Purpose Design
Commercial real estate developers are known to pursue new projects based on community demographics and demand trends. When there’s a low apartment or vacancy rate in a community with rising rents, it’s generally agreed that the market can absorb a new apartment community, for example. While the actual analysis is a little more complex than…
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Midyear Check-In: Commercial Real Estate Market Gains Momentum
The year began with unbridled optimism. After a challenging 2023, commercial real estate stakeholders welcomed the start of a new year with high hopes for a swift change. Market experts expected lower interest rates and more capital availability; increased investor appetite with stabilized pricing; and healthy occupier demand. Many of those anticipated changes, unfortunately, didn’t…
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Office-to-Apartment Conversion: Can Developers Make It Work?
Commercial real estate developers are well aware of the national housing shortage. To meet current demand, the nation needs to add 4 million to 5 million new homes. Housing development is at the epicenter of the problem. The construction rate began to slow in 2000. By 2020, 5.5 million fewer homes were delivered compared to…
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Developers Gain Optimism: What It Means for New Construction Activity
You might feel like every successful developer has a crystal ball with the ability to peek two or three years into the future and understand what a community will need. In reality, of course, there is no crystal ball. Instead, there are metrics and data (and a little bit of luck) to forecast trends that…
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How the Rise in Office Loan Defaults Will Impact CRE Development
Defaults on loan payments for unused office buildings are on the rise, as owners of Class B and Class C properties face dual headwinds from the ongoing prevalence of remote work and the high-interest rate environment. The commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield estimates about 20% of office space is vacant at present,…
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6 Cities Affordable Housing Developers Should Target for New Construction
Commercial real estate investors and developers have expressed a commitment to addressing the nation’s affordable housing crisis. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the US needs 7.3 million affordable housing units to meet current demand, but of course, some cities are suffering from a greater shortage than others. The coastal markets and major…