Many leaders believe this is the key to becoming fully immune to all future risks—but evading risk forever is just unrealistic. Risk plays a big part in commercial real estate. To thrive, it’s crucial to adopt a proactive approach to manage risks effectively. So how can commercial real estate investors thrive in a time of such incredible volatility, change and blindness? How do we thrive amid constant uncertainty and exposure to risk? On this new episode of the AFIRE Podcast, AFIRE CEO Gunnar Branson sits down with General Stan McChrystal (Ret.), CEO and Chairman of the McChrystal Group, to di ..read more

Cognitive dissonance abounds in commercial real estate. On the one hand, the Fed is citing strong employment figures and predicting a soft landing. https://www.afire.org/podcast/202401cast/ And yet, the commercial real estate industry is navigating serious issues in the office sector. Will office distress trigger bank failures? Will those bank failures affect the broader economy? When will interest rates go down? And when they do, will the Fed cut enough to benefit commercial real estate?  In his conversation with AFIRE CEO Gunnar Branson, Moody’s Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi soun ..read more

On the tail end of the hottest year on human record, it’s clear that climate change is already here—and not slowing down. In the years ahead, the effects of climate change will pose real hardships for billions of people around the world. The challenge of climate change is clear, especially for real estate, as explained in the first of this special two-part series. Now, in this second and final entry of the latest AFIRE Podcast—inspired by the special climate change section featured in the most recent issue of AFIRE’s award-winning Summit Journal, and sponsored by the global ESG consultancy, Ac ..read more

Despite the overwrought headlines and apocalyptic economic forecasts, office buildings still matter. At the same time, the use of office is changing and an increasing need for sustainability requires all office owners and developers to alter their approach. https://www.afire.org/podcast/202311cast/ According to Anthony Malkin of Empire State Realty Trust, the altered approach won’t be easy or business-as-usual, but there is a compelling future. Office buildings matter, including the ones that are already built. The use of office is changing dramatically, and office owners are now required to a ..read more

Every headline suggest that our cities are in serious trouble. How will that impact real estate investors, what can be done about it, and what is the future of our cities? https://www.afire.org/podcast/202310cast/ In a recent op-ed for the New York Times, Ed Glaeser—the Fred & Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics and Chair of the Department of Economics at Harvard University—wrote of the future of New York following the pandemic, stating: “The economic future of the city that never sleeps depends on embracing this shift from vocation to recreation and ensuring that New Yorkers with a wide ..read more

Hans Nordby, the Head of Analytics and Research for Lionstone Investments, explains how demographic changes are transforming the construction, location, and value of commercial real estate across the board. https://www.afire.org/podcast/202308cast/ The challenges of inflation, interest rates, and back to the office can be overwhelming, but changing demographic forces may be the biggest story of our time. How will downtowns like San Francisco, Chicago, and Washington, DC recover from their considerable challenges? What will become of the preponderance of obsolete office buildings? How will peop ..read more

Matt Pomeroy, Director of Valuation, Reporting, and Analytics for Chatham Financial, discusses the challenge of determining accurate valuations when the market is essentially frozen in place. Without comparable trades, how can investors know what they have? https://www.afire.org/podcast/202307cast/ Fast rising interest rates and fast shrinking demand for office space is a significant challenge for real estate portfolios. Bid/ask spreads have widened to the point that only the most distressed sales can take place. Valuation of real estate values has always depended on comparable trades but what ..read more

Scott Rechler, CEO of RXR Realty and Board Member of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, discusses how 20% of extant office buildings may now be obsolete in the post-COVID era and how investors can transition to a new “regime” of real estate investing. https://www.afire.org/podcast/202306cast/ Real estate is going through a significant transition beyond the usual ups and downs of the economic cycle. The risks are changing. The opportunities are changing. And office buildings in particular—historically favored by institutional investors looking for safe, long-term investments—are changing, to ..read more

Bill Ferguson, President and Carrie Nowicki, COO of the Ferguson Charitable Foundation Centers for Leadership Excellence, discuss how real estate can bring an entire generation of racially and ethnically diverse students into the industry. https://www.afire.org/podcast/202305cast/ The Centers for Leadership Excellence (CLE), sponsored by the Ferguson Charitable Foundation, has developed partnerships with fourteen colleges nationwide to provide scholarships, mentoring, and internships while developing real estate related curriculums in those colleges. The real estate industry as it stands today ..read more

Parag Khanna, Founder & CEO of Climate Alpha and international bestselling author of seven books, including Move and Connectography, discusses how climate change, migration, and sophisticated data science can and should change investment strategy. https://www.afire.org/podcast/202304cast/ Beyond the immediate crisis of inflation, interest rate increases, and even bank failures, are far more impactful threats to investment strategy. Where people are going thanks to increasing climate pressures will impact asset values not just in the far future but within the timeline of existing investment ..read more