Holly Dutton

Yat-Pang Au, the CEO of multifamily management company Veritas Investments, spoke to me recently from his hotel room in Nashville, where he was attending the Pension Real Estate Association conference. It had been more than a year since news broke that the company defaulted on a $448 million loan secured by more than 60 properties in San Francisco, where it was once the city’s largest apartment landlord. Then, earlier this year, Brookfield Properties and Ballast Investments took ownership of the 2,165-unit portfolio, effectively taking over the title of largest apartment owner. Now, Veritas is shaking off its struggles and moving forward. The company currently has more than 6,000 units under management, most of which are concentrated in San Francisco, with other pockets in Southern California and in the company’s newest market, Seattle. Au was upbeat and friendly and seemed to have quickly moved on from the company’s recent challenges and was focused squarely on the future.

Office space has perhaps never been more scrutinized than it is today. The prevalence of remote and hybrid work, coupled with an economic downturn, has led companies of all stripes to take a harder look at the amount of square footage they occupy and what can be trimmed to save costs. Extra space is not something a lot of office occupiers are interested in holding onto—unless they have big future growth plans. Despite that, there has been an increasing need for a type of office space that serves a very specific purpose. Ever since the pandemic shined a light on mental health, a focus on health and wellness in the workplace has led to more companies adding meditation and prayer rooms to offices.

Artificial Intelligence, particularly Generative AI (GenAI), is having an impact on investor relations within the commercial real estate sector. GenAI is currently being used for various purposes such as summarization algorithms, investor chatbots, and platforms like JLL GPT. Although some people still prefer human interaction, AI chatbots are becoming more advanced and are able to mimic human behavior, which could potentially change user preferences. It is expected that AI will enhance and not replace investor relations roles, making the industry more competitive.

In retail real estate, when the retailer makes money, the landlord makes money. Landlords pay close attention to the size and demographics of the people who visit their properties. They also try their best to find tenants that have synergy. Now, there is an entire economy of technology tools that have been built to help landlords better understand their customer base and what mix of tenants will lead to high sales. Given the major shifts the retail industry has experienced over the last few years, as more shopping has shifted to e-commerce and aging malls have fallen out of favor, data and tech tools have become a key part of both retailers’ and landlords’ business strategies.

The Beacon is a 21-story residential high-rise that will bring 282 affordable housing units to East Harlem. (Image: Community Builders, Inc.)

As the co-working industry has evolved, office owners are increasingly creating their own flex and co-working brands. To operate and manage these platforms, many owners are choosing to partner with software companies to build in-house apps that promise a seamless experience for users of the space.

Building affordable housing is already a major challenge, burdened by high costs, community resistance, and complex regulations. Making these developments energy-efficient can seem even more difficult. But, a growing number of projects demonstrate that it's possible to achieve both affordability and sustainability. These projects use innovative designs and technologies to reduce energy consumption, lowering operating costs and benefiting the environment.

Tishman Speyer’s Morgan North office building in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood features a two-acre green roof. (Image: Tishman Speyer)

What if we had a digital version of ourselves that we could test different ideas on? We try new clothes on our digital selves or test new diets to see how we would respond. While we don’t yet have access to accurate digital twins of ourselves, we do have them for the built world. And now digital twins are being used much like how we would use a digital “self.” Architects, developers, and city planners are finding ways to use digital twins to try out new ideas to see how it would change the look and feel of a building or a neighborhood.

Life science "mega campus" at 1165 Eastlake Avenue East, Lake Union, Seattle. (Image: Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.)