CPE Podcasts

Welcome back to Sustainability Street, our podcast on the

The Commercial Property Assessed Energy Program, otherwise known as C-PACE, was launched 15 years ago to provide property owners with low-cost, long-term financing for sustainability and efficiency improvements, with borrowers repaying their loans through a special tax assessment.  

But the program was still pretty niche until the pullback in

As the capital markets loosen, can C-PACE's streak continue?

"There's actually 40 cities around the country—most

Here are some of the topics Elser and I covered:

• Esler's journey to sustainable finance (2:03)

• C-PACE explained (4:17)

• Simultaneous objectives (10:08)

• 38 separate C-PACE programs (13:11)

• Busting myths about C-PACE (15:54)

• The future of C-PACE (22:22)

Most commercial real estate companies are currently getting positioned to take a greater leap into generative artificial intelligence. CREW Network CEO Wendy Mann expects to see more extensions into AI over the next 24 months.

A recent study conducted by the organization showed that as of right now there’s still a very low level of actual usage of AI in day-to-day business.

Press play for the last episode of CPE's CREW Up series this year, hosted by Senior Editor Laura Calugar!

For this episode, my guests—Sairah Burki, managing director & head of Regulatory Affairs & Sustainability at the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council, and David McCarthy, CREFC managing director & head of Legislative Affairs—delve into the legislative logjam around the National Flood Insurance Program, which, though basically insolvent, is the only flood insurance alternative for many.

They also discuss the need for long-term authorization, and innovative strategies around flood coverage.

“The policymakers have to decide who is going to pay for this,” McCarthy said. "Is it going to be the Federal government? "

Here are some highlights from our conversation:

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The global real estate market is in the early stages of recovery, according to the latest survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in London. In fact, the indicators tracking lending conditions posted the most positive reading since 2015, but this doesn’t mean there aren’t any elements that could derail global business activity.

Tune in now!

Change is in the air this fall for commercial real estate investment. The Fed’s announcement of a 50-basis-point interest rate cut in late September, and the expectation that more cuts are ahead, signals a reopening of the spigot for real estate finance. But there’s plenty more in the mix these days.

Episode highlights:

·    The impact of interest rate cuts (1:23)

·    What’s ahead for the rest of 2024 (2:40)

·    Market momentum: will investors wait? (3:40)

·    The “wall of maturities” and other CREFC

·    CMBS snapshot (6:56)

·    Why capital is flowing to debt funds (8:49)

·   What’s next for bank lending?

·   Some good news for borrowers (11:11)

·    Signs of an office sector reset (12:27)

Welcome back to Sustainability Street, our podcast on the intersection of commercial real estate and the world we live in. For this episode, I'm tackling carbon credits with my guest Mahesh Ramanujam, CEO of Global Network for Zero and formerly the president & CEO of USGBC.

For Ramanujam, carbon credits are a necessary bridge to achieving net zero in commercial real estate and the world. Not everyone shares that view, so we talk about why carbon credits have a public relations problem and the need for greater transparency and verification.

“Our work is to really make the invisible visible so that the visible becomes actionable so that the actionable things then could be scalable.” Ramanujam said.

Here are some highlights from our conversation:

With property valuations at historic lows, buying office or retail space instead of leasing it might make a lot of sense today. But there are lots of caveats to it.

Shifting from owner to occupier has many implications and requires a different skillset than managing a portfolio of leased real estate. However, a long-term commitment to a specific location—probably a company headquarter or a flagship store—is a good enough reason for a tenant to purchase the space.

Nevertheless, there are risks and concerns. Hear all about them in this FTI Experts’ Hub episode with Jahn Brodwin, senior managing director & co-leader of the Real Estate Solutions practice at FTI Consulting, and Rob Raymond, who serves as managing director in the Real Estate Advisory group within the Real Estate Solutions practice.

As the president of Colliers International’s Real Estate Management Services division, Karen Whitt leads a team of almost 2,000 people. Recently, she noticed that talent availability is loosening up at both the executive and the entry level, but finding qualified, experienced candidates is still a challenge. So retaining current employees is critical, and creative, empathetic leaders that understand the power of investing in training can go a long way.

Whitt serves as the 2024 President of CREW Network. In this CREW Up podcast episode, she talks to Commercial Property Executive Senior Editor Laura Calugar about the current hiring market.

The demand for traditional office environments is shifting, leading to significant impacts on vacancy rates, lease structures and development activity. As companies are looking for ways to right-size their portfolios and office spaces, the market's current outlook is showing some improvement. Office attendance is now closer to ⁠pre-pandemic levels⁠, and some companies have found the right formula for increasing leasing rates.

In the first episode of Step Into My Office, CPE’s new quarterly podcast series, Associate Editor Olivia Bunescu delves into the current office market trends across New York with Nick Berger, director of commercial leasing at The Moinian Group. Berger shares some of the company’s leasing strategies as it adapts to changing tenants’ needs and ⁠hybrid work models⁠.

Here’s what he discussed about:

Commercial real estate is often a family business, and some family-run firms have uncommon origin stories. Take BEB Capital. Headquartered in Port Washington, New York, a suburb on Long Island, the company reflects the entrepreneurial energy of the Brodsky family, led by its patriarch, Bert Brodsky.

Decades of success in the health care and technology industries evolved into a lateral move into commercial real estate investment. In a relatively short period, BEB Capital has emerged as a nimble industrial and office investor on the East Coast, and, most recently, has expanded into real estate finance.

In this episode, you’ll meet BEB Capital’s founding CEO, Lee Brodsky. He offers his take on the next wave of industrial opportunity, what’s driving demand, and the benefits of having investment and finance capacity under a single roof.

And he still calls himself a big fan of office. Probably not too surprising—before he took on his current CEO duties, he had a long run as a top New York City office leasing broker. You’ll hear how that experience informs his approach to leading a diversified investment and finance shop.

Episode highlights:

Birth of an investment business (1:53)

New industrial opportunities, strategies and new niches (3:23)

Scouting the next hotspots (6:28)

Factors that are shaping demand(7:46)

Why he’s still “a big fan of office” (9:46)

Private lender perspectives: thinking like an owner (11:59)

Lessons of a leasing broker (15:06)

 “Obsessed with communication” and being proactive (19:19)

Advancing a legacy of philanthropy (22:30)

CEO off the clock: family matters (25:09)