CPE Podcasts

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:

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 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:

Investing for social and environmental change is not a new concept, but there has been a recent boost in demand for investments centered on equity and inclusion, the affordable housing shortage, and the climate crisis. Allocations to impact investments surpassed $1 trillion in assets under management in 2021, according to a study by the Global Impact Investing Network and Nuveen. However, their report notes, this milestone is just the beginning if the UN Sustainability Goals are to be met by 2030.

Welcome back to Sustainability Street, CPE’s podcast on the intersection of commercial real estate and the world we live in, For this episode on impact investing, Executive Editor Therese Fitzgerald interviewed Jeff Brenner, CEO and president of Impact Community Capital, which has produced more than $2 billion of institutional-quality impact investments in affordable housing, childcare and healthcare over the past 25 years. They discuss the history of socially responsible investing, the drivers behind the surge in impact funds, and the increasing returns of housing investments.

Here's a sample of the topics covered:

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!