CREDA Podcast: Inside CRE

Christopher Thornberg, Ph.D., founding partner of Beacon Economics and recent I.CON West keynote, joins the podcast to parse the growing disconnect between economic data and public sentiment. While U.S. households are financially strong and consumer spending drives growth, this prosperity is propped up by an unsustainable government deficit and foreign capital inflows. Thornberg stresses the need for immigration-driven labor growth, explains how current spending is masking deeper fiscal risk, and shares to the data point – not the 10-year Treasury – that we should all be keeping track of. Recorded on April 15, 2025.

Scott Jennings started his political career licking envelopes in a campaign office but went on to work for campaigns at both the local and national level, including four presidential campaigns. The CNN senior conservative political commentator – and keynote speaker at NAIOP’s 2025 Chapter Leadership and Legislative Retreat – joins the podcast to share his views on political strategy, including what it takes today for a candidate to win, the two policy areas he believes drove Donald Trump back into the White House, and how Republicans “completely revolutionized” their ground game in the 2024 presidential election. He discusses the ambitious timeline for Congress to pass a tax bill, the Trump administration’s use of tariffs and other economic levers, whether J.D. Vance gets the nod as the Republican candidate for 2028, and even his opinion on the Democratic Party’s best option for a candidate in 2028. Recorded on March 18, 2025.

As the national director for office analytics, Phil Mobley leads the development of CoStar's house view of the office market. In this episode, he examines the office sector from every angle, highlighting the misconception of a simple “flight to quality,” explaining that both premium and affordable office spaces are thriving while mid-tier buildings face challenges. Mobley shares what he’s watching with the greatest interest over the next 12-24 months, discusses fragmentation in the sector, and how limited new supply is slowing move-outs as occupiers hold onto space longer. Despite ongoing hurdles, he remains optimistic about the long-term role of office as landlords adjust to tenant needs and get a handle on each “micro market.” Recorded on March 13, 2025.

Artist. Architect. Chairman. Philanthropist. Author. Lawrence Armstrong, chairman of leading international design firm Ware Malcomb, joined the firm nearly 40 years ago and served as CEO from 1992 to 2020. In addition to expanding the company from a Southern California firm to a national and international firm with 28 offices across North America, his tenure as CEO is hallmarked by an unprecedented 40x revenue growth. He talks candidly about the importance of succession planning, navigating economic downturns over the years, and how creative leadership can drive double-digit growth. Recorded on Feb. 19, 2025.

Is the era of tariff-free goods on the North American continent coming to an end? Shannon O’Neil, Senior Vice President and Director of Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of “The Globalization Myth: Why Regions Matter,” joins us for this especially timely episode. Shannon discusses how tariff uncertainty and shifting global trade patterns will impact commercial real estate markets across North America, the potential renegotiation of the USMCA, and Mexico’s growing role in global supply chains. She shares why she believes that regionalization – not globalization – has had the biggest economic impact of the last 40 years and details a counterintuitive strategy for creating more jobs in the U.S. Recorded on Jan. 15, 2025.

Opening our third season of Inside CRE, Christopher Ware, NAIOP’s Vice President for Business Development and Strategic Initiatives, speaks with Alex Thomson, founder of Prevail Consultants and 2025 NAIOP Chair. With two decades of experience in commercial real estate, Alex has gained expertise in every aspect of the business, spanning acquisitions, entitlements, development, financing and dispositions. Notably, he’s also NAIOP’s first Canadian chair. In this episode, Alex discusses his priorities for the association during his tenure, his family’s longstanding spirit of volunteerism, and why a career in CRE won out over one as a mountain guide. He comments on the unprecedented political changes occurring in Canada with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recent resignation, and explains the collaborative approach taken by NAIOP’s Canadian chapters in addressing legislative issues. Get to know Alex – including his surprising hobby (influenced by Robert Burns) and what kind of peated scotch he recommends. Recorded Jan. 14, 2025.

Aquiles Suarez, Senior Vice President for Government Affairs at NAIOP, has the considerable task of overseeing the association’s advocacy efforts at the federal, state and local level, and managing the association’s political action committee, NAIOP-PAC. In his signature candor, Aquiles shares with Marc his take on what Republican control of the White House and Congress means for the country and for commercial real estate, the impacts of tariffs proposed by the Trump administration, and the tax debate that’s coming in 2025. He also discusses the two Supreme Court decisions that stand to impact CRE, a NAIOP-supported adaptive reuse bill, and the organization’s top legislative priorities going into 2025. Recorded on Nov. 20, 2024.

Generational changes happening now are creating a fundamental shift in our society and the way people live and work, says Nikki Greenberg, a world-leading futurist focused on the trends and technologies shaping cities of the future. She joins NAIOP’s Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Shaine Anderson talk about the path that led her from licensed architect to futurist; the differences in motivating, training and retaining the next generation of workers; and five principles to help leaders adopt a future-ready mindset today. Nikki explains the concept of “Outcome As a Service” and shares small, practical steps that leaders can take to introduce more innovation into their organizations. She also offers an important reminder for anyone feeling overwhelmed by the tech tidal wave: “No one is an expert – we’re all just playing around.” Recorded on Oct. 18. 2024.

David C. Smith is the head of Americas insights for the Cushman & Wakefield global think tank. He joins the podcast and puts in a pitch for the office sector, which he said is experiencing a reckoning similar to the “retail apocalypse” that made headlines back in the mid-2010s through 2020. David discusses topical office trends including reduced square footage per worker, flexible office configurations and the flight to quality. He explains the cyclical vs. structural headwinds faced by the office sector, why “urban nodes” are one of the greatest opportunities over the next decade, and the optimal mix of downtown real estate (42% should be office) for maximizing GDP. Recorded on Sept. 23, 2024.

Brian Natwick, Chairman and CEO of Crescent Communities, our 2024 Developer of the Year, joins guest host Kathryn Hamilton, NAIOP’s vice president for marketing and communications, for this episode. “At the end of the day, real estate is an experience,” Brian points out – a principle that guides the firm’s approach to creating exceptional development projects. He shares the three definitive points in time that shaped the company; what Disney taught him about the value of creating experiences; and the value of a “guest chef” strategy. He’s brutally honest about the underwriting challenges and capital markets paralysis in recent years; tells us why he’s bullish on the Sunbelt; and explains what he means when he says Crescent is a place where you end your career, not start it. Recorded on Sept. 9, 2024.