Question 1

How have you evolved your “survive till ’25” strategy this year?

Multifamily Development, Investment | Washington, D.C. | Male | 15 Years in CRE

Earlier in 2023, we decided to go on the offensive. As a fund allocator on behalf of a multifamily office, we needed to direct funds toward CRE. We allocated $450M to capitalize on potential market dislocation, targeting nonperforming bank notes across most asset classes, except office. Our focus has been on student housing, shadow multifamily, data centers and logistics.

Brokerage | Denver | Male | 45 Years in CRE

We have adjusted by being more creative and doing more owner carry transactions. We have taken the approach that this is the “new” reality and to “date the rate, marry the deal,” meaning capture your deal and then refinance. In essence, buy now.

Office, Multifamily, Hotel Investment, Development | Denver | Male | 24 Years in CRE

Our strategy hasn’t really changed. We have almost entirely long-term, fixed-rate debt at very low leverage and no mezzanine debt or preferred equity across our entire multifamily portfolio, so we have not been in survival mode. While transaction volume has been down, we have focused on building our business; making sure we have the right people in the right seats, redoing systems and processes to ensure best practices, and maintaining discipline in reviewing new opportunities, which we are starting to see for the first time in 18 months.

Financing | Los Angeles | Male | 12 Years in CRE

We are preparing to survive until ‘26/’27. With respect to our banking division, we’ve tailored our offered product offerings to what is most required in this space — less bank capital and more capital that offers certainty of execution, rescue, credit enhancement, higher-leverage debt funds and high net worth/family office capital.

Retail | Pan-European | Male | 35 Years in CRE

We’ve moved into Italy and Germany.

Primarily Condo and Multifamily | South Florida | Male | 20 Years in CRE

The current "stalemate" that the stubbornly high interest rates have created is causing developers to be much more creative in getting projects off the ground. As a result, we have gone back to the drawing board and made adjustments to lower costs, increase efficiencies and increase project yields. The result is that deals are getting done, just with a lot more work.

Investment Sales | Houston | Male | 11 Years in CRE

As the Fed remains aggressive in curbing inflation, we too remain aggressive in our client outreach, advisory services and overall ability to help our clients during these uncertain times. While many have opted to wait for the market to improve, we’ve been operating as if the market has already bottomed out. We’re hopeful this proactive approach will not only benefit our clients but also our agents and the firm.

Multifamily, Industrial, Self-Storage, Manufactured Housing | Dallas | Male | 30 Years in CRE

Not at all — the environment is shaping up as we suspected it might, and our asset classes and markets are holding up quite well.

Photo: Unsplash/Blake Connally

Mixed-Income Housing | Boston | Male | 15 Years in CRE

We have consciously diversified not only where we work but how we work. For example, by offering OPM services as well as leading our own developments, we are able to mitigate some of the risks presented in today's market. We also recognize that opportunities often hide in turbulence, so we have continued to grow and we continue to ask ourselves what we can do better and how we can be more creative.

Job Recruiting | National | Female | 10 Years in CRE

I didn't really believe in survive until '25. I do think that there are great opportunities in the market for people who bring value. My situation is different than other people you'd ask this question, but I continue to have clients that are investing in building and scaling their businesses that need my kind of advice and you need support. I also am working with individuals who are trying to improve their situation at their current companies or negotiate better situations for themselves at a new company. So, for me, survive until ‘25 doesn't really exist.

Investment | National | Male | 25 Years in CRE

We never adopted this strategy. Having lived through five down real estate cycles in my career, I’ve learned there is always opportunity in the market at all points in the cycle. It is more about adopting and staying engaged than it is about accepting the status quo and “surviving.”

Industrial | New York | Male | 15 Years in CRE

Over the past year, we embraced leasing assignments, as that seems to be the hot hand at the moment. At the same time, we hope to be well-positioned to handle sales assignments once sales volume picks up, as we never stopped performing activities that lead to sales assignments, such as having conversations with owners, submitting LOIs, publishing market research reports, drafting property valuations, etc. More than ever, we have been focused on investing time and resources into activities that generate core business.

Residential Brokerage | New York | Female | 35 Years in CRE

“Stay alive till '25 because it will be heaven in ‘27.” I plan on enjoying my slice of heaven in ‘27 by employing strategies from cycles past. This involves conducting thorough analyses of every deal to identify what went wrong and developing robust strategies to insulate future deals. It's no longer enough to passively wait for opportunities; we need to actively seize them. This means proactively seeking out deals, understanding the intricacies and making decisive moves.

Office | Philadelphia | Male | 20 Years in CRE

We’re still hunkered down for this year, ultra cautious regarding existing service business and conservative regarding acquisition underwriting.

Corporate Real Estate | Houston | Male | 43 Years in CRE

I don’t get too wrapped up in surviving one year of a business cycle. For the most part, I approach my business like I am running a marathon. It’s a very long race and different things happen along the way that I will have to adjust to meet my goals. At some points, I may have to speed up or deal with hills, excessive heat or bad terrain. To make it to the finish line, you have to be disciplined, persevere, work with the right people and remain positive.

Affordable Housing | Atlanta | Female

We are fortunate not to have any maturing debt in our portfolio until mid-2025, but we are not too optimistic that interest rates will be significantly lower.

Legal | New York | Male | 30 Years in CRE

We are starting to see clients on both sides of loan transactions take action — this includes borrowers and lenders coming to some finality such as consummating deed-in-lieu transactions or completing short sales or long-term restructuring of loans. In addition, the gap between seller and buyer pricing on the investment sales side is starting to narrow to the point where sellers are becoming more realistic about long-term prospects, resulting in deals starting to get done.

Multifamily | Atlanta | Male | 40 Years in CRE

We adjusted our business plan to prepare for what we expect will be significant opportunities to take advantage of in 2023-2024’s market dislocation. Specifically, we expanded and extended our revolving credit facility, and streamlined our operations over the past two years to be ready for 2025.

Retail Investment, Leasing | Atlanta | Male | 18 Years in CRE

Thankfully, leasing and property management have been minimally affected. As for sales, we are building a SERIOUS pipeline of properties we expect to bring to market in ’25. So with expectations of a robust ’25, our team is busy guiding clients and updating valuations so we’re ready as soon as rates do drop.

Development | Washington, D.C. | Male | 25 Years in CRE

“Need to make up a new rhyme, because it is going to take more time.”

Capital Markets | National | Female | 30 Years in CRE

We’re optimistic that the Fed will move at least once in 2024, although this is a data-dependent exercise. CREFC’s concerns are that we may see a stagflationary environment that paralyzes the Fed and leads to no changes in the Fed funds rate. Loans coming due today have ~4% coupons. Unfortunately, today’s rates are anywhere between 300 and 400 basis points higher than the rates on loans maturing in 2024 and 2025.

Multifamily Investment | Chicago | Female | 20 Years in CRE

Sometimes we must pivot when the market does not behave in the way we predicted. Refocusing on best practices and foundational strategies, like our fix-and-flip strategy in multifamily investments, got us where we are and is what will allow us to survive in the future.

Photo: Unsplash/Joey Kyber

Retail | Houston | Male

I’ve taken on consulting opportunities that are centered around CRE to advise clients who have strategic, complex CRE-related items to solve for well before a transaction could even be considered.

Proptech | Los Angeles | Male | 18 Years in CRE

After an initial pullback to survey the landscape, we are now seeking opportunities to play offense. We believe a survival mentality can sometimes lead to erring too much on the side of caution, which can mean missing out on otherwise advantageous risk-taking. Additionally, trying to time recovery or any market event can be a dangerous game. As a result, we’re adjusting to new market norms and finding ways to pursue growth while also remaining mindful of risk and the realities of a tough market.

Development, Investment | Washington, D.C. | Female | 15 Years in CRE

Well, we had been a bit more optimistic about 2024 and had really been hoping for a summer rate rally. Now some projects look more like 2026 …

Brokerage | Washington, D.C. | Female | 36 Years in CRE

Diversification. No longer solely focused on one core service and user group; branching out to provide a broad range of services beyond the traditional office leasing; doing sales, industrial, manufacturing, portfolio and general consulting. Leveraging the continuing expanding resources that a global provider like our firm has. And this isn’t just a path to survive till ‘25 but a new way of crafting a path to sustainable business going forward.

Development | Washington, D.C. | Female | 30 Years in CRE

We are very focused on our current inventory of developments. We are working on affordable, homeownership, land development and other business lines and working to finance deals in process.

Private Equity Investment | London | Male | 20 Years in CRE

Focusing more on markets with the highest level of immediate liquidity, namely the gateway markets like London.

Industrial | Southern California | Male | 21 Years in CRE

Our organization has not evolved our strategy for 2024 significantly, because our plan is based on structurally changing the service offerings within the organization to prepare for such swings in the market and to become a broader organization. As planned, we have been aggressively growing our industrial practice, our occupier services practice as well as consulting service lines that are accretive to our longer-term strategic vision. We have targeted key markets for growth and are laser-focused on our objective as an organization.

Photo: Unsplash/Henry & Co

Development | Washington, D.C. | Male | 23 Years in CRE

We have survived by continuing to aggressively asset-manage our portfolio by pushing revenues while being hyperfocused on controlling expenses and implementing creative strategies to grow margins. Also, having been fortunate to have low to moderately leveraged assets, while also having some rate caps, we had some insurance against the rise in rate caps. Our approach to executing deals in this environment has adjusted to where we are looking much closer at alternate financing options that align with government initiatives like renewable energy that could offset the higher cost of capital today while being focused on our cost basis.

Finance | New Jersey | Male | 26 Years in CRE

We've evolved our 'Survive Till '25' strategy by adapting to prolonged inflation and market challenges. Many are hesitant to take on new rates or lock in high ones, preferring to extend lower rates and ride out inflation. The slow supply chain recovery post-Covid has contributed to this caution. However, we anticipate market stabilization within 18 months and are focused on maintaining flexibility to act swiftly when conditions improve.

Retail | Chicago | Female | 26 Years in CRE

The key has been cost control on the operating side and keeping positive forward momentum on the development/redevelopment side until interest rates come down and project returns can be positively accretive.

Retail | New York City | Male | 17 Years in CRE

Retail has been strong, while the rest of the market has been tough. The challenge that relates to our business is construction costs. When a company signs a lease, they need to build a store. They build the store, that costs money. There's higher tenant improvement allowances by landlords. For consumers, interest rates are higher, money's more expensive. But retail has been super hot since the pandemic. I'd say we’re less affected than other verticals in the industry.

Multifamily | Philadelphia | Male | 26 Years in CRE

My team is advising clients that post-Covid occupancy data supports a “new normal” where rightsizing is standard operating procedure, flight to quality is confirmed and well-capitalized landlords prevail.

Office and Industrial Tenant Representation | Houston | Male | 15 Years in CRE

Our firm did not adopt a 'survive till '25' mindset. Instead, we innovated ways to connect with potential clients, enhancing our service with advanced technology, data analytics and administrative support. We actively assisted businesses in renegotiating leases for better terms and facilitated the buying and selling of user-occupied properties, which tripled our revenue post-Covid. Our approach was proactive and growth-oriented.

Lending, Debt Management, Origination | San Francisco | Male | 20 Years in CRE

I think the sentiment that rates are going to stay higher for longer has been more widely adopted, and that is slowly leading to more transactions from banks and borrowers selling at prices that buyers are willing to transact at. As a lender, our strategy was never to survive until ’25, but rather to capitalize on banks being on the sidelines and the ability to lend on quality real estate acquisitions at a reset basis with good sponsorship.

Office, Industrial, Land | San Antonio | Male | 44 Years in CRE

Now it’s survive for an extended time frame, as I don't expect any material interest rate drop except in the case of a severe recession, which creates a whole different set of problems. We are planning to put fixed-rate debt on our historic office-to-resi project and hold for an extended 10-plus-year time frame. I expect inflation to stay high, and with the big drop in new multifamily starts, rents in 2026 and 2027 should pick back up.

Multifamily | Washington, D.C. | Male | 20 Years in CRE

We will be spending the remainder of this year and next identifying and acquiring high-quality assets that are priced below replacement cost and face some sort of pressure point for a sale, such as a looming maturity.

Photo: Unsplash/Ümit Yıldırım

Development, Investment | Chicago | Male | 16 Years in CRE

Our team has closely monitored the market to align with shifts in demand for real estate across asset classes and regions. Since the rate hikes, our focus has remained on developing industrial and student housing assets. Specifically, we continue to execute on our very best land sites to deliver state-of-the-art logistics projects in key logistics corridors and high-population markets and student housing projects near campuses of Tier 1 universities in Power Five conferences.

Office Tenant Representation | Denver | Male | 18 Years in CRE

The occupier services segment of the business is off to a strong start in ’24. I do not see ’25 being much different. Corporate decision-making is up and headcounts are relatively steady after declines in office-using jobs in ’23.

Brokerage | Los Angeles | Male | 20 Years in CRE

It’s been a roller coaster ride for the industry this year to say the least. As a national team we have focused on our relationship development this year with more meaningful discussions with our clients, while expanding our market coverage. Also, doubling our equity introductions for groups that could use the help or expand their equity networks. We have also invested a significant amount of time into our AI architecture and data sources, as we see this being a critical time to think ahead, as opposed to being left behind with outdated methods. Regardless of deal flow, we think it's an important time to plan for the coming 12 months and begin laying the groundwork for what lies ahead.

Brokerage | Chicago | Female | 16 Years in CRE

My focus is on working closely with landlords to adjust lease agreements, providing flexibility and stability for my clients and their tenants. Now, I'm streamlining processes and reducing costs to maintain financial health, exploring alternative financing options to mitigate the impact of high interest rates and forming alliances to share resources and expertise.

Multifamily | Brooklyn | Male | 21 Years in CRE

We haven’t changed our strategy in the hopes the market changes — we can’t control that. We continue to focus on the fundamentals of brokerage: listening and engaging with the market on a daily basis, advising our clients on current market conditions and helping them when the time comes for them to sell their properties. Of course, we are looking forward to better market conditions, but our strategy remains the same.

National Business Development | Houston | Male | 30 Years in CRE

We’re not “surviving” until ‘25, we’re thriving through ‘25. Our business is incredibly diverse through geography, client makeup and product type. Consequently, we are highly focused on areas where the recovery is strongest.

Life Sciences, Industrial, Multifamily | Boston | Male | 20 Years in CRE

We have been in the “Persist till ‘26” camp for some time, believing that rate cuts would not occur until there was a slowdown in the economy, which we just haven’t seen. That said, you can’t time the market. Our acquisition efforts are focused on opportunities that offer a high degree of downside protection. One example is multitenanted industrial product below replacement cost with in-place rents that are below market with near-term rollover.

Office Redevelopment | Dallas, Denver | Male | 31 Years in CRE

We are actually thriving till ’25! We have picked up two buildings (one in Denver and one in Dallas) in the last two months. We believe that the buildings that are recapitalized early will have the money and the pricing to fill back up quickly. By the time the rest of the market recapitalizes their assets, it will be much harder to fill those properties up because of all of the cut-rate competition that will be out there. We are starting to see below-rate lender financing that facilitates sales during this high-interest-rate period.

Office, Medical, Retail, Industrial | Dallas | Female | 13 Years in CRE

Our strategy through 2024 is to continue to work hard on our current listings and expand our portfolio so we are not dependent on one asset class, with a focus on stable asset classes such as medical office, Class-A+ office and industrial projects. Continued changes in the market create opportunities, so we will explore properties in distress as well as expand our platform in different markets into 2025. We will also continue to expand by adding fresh talent to our team of creative thinkers with the ability to be nimble and adjust to market conditions.

REITs | Washington, D.C. | Male | 24 Years in CRE

Evolution has been modest. First and foremost, we’re taking advantage of continued demand for high-quality office space and leasing to fill our vacancies. We’re seeing a flight not only to quality, but to certainty. With all of the challenged capital stacks out there, tenants and brokers are more savvy than ever and the high-quality buildings whose capital is in order are winning. Development math remains very challenging, but we’re seeking opportunities to acquire properties that need new capital, as well as to selectively pursue development sites.

Office | Washington, D.C. | Female | 25 Years in CRE

As it relates to office leasing, we’re already focused on 2025 and beyond. The flight-to-quality trend is as strong as ever, and supply for it is severely constrained. Highly amenitized buildings in dynamic, energy-rich locations are significantly outperforming the broader market, and tenants seeking this type of product are entering the market well in advance of their lease expiration.

Office | San Francisco | Male | 15 Years in CRE

We are a long-term investor and have not changed our strategy. We are meeting the office leasing market where the demand is.

Self-Storage Investor | Based in Albuquerque but invests nationally | Male | 20 Years in CRE

We look at it as thriving, not surviving. It's been nearly 20 years since the GFC upended real estate. That event provided once-in-a-career opportunities. This time, it will also provide opportunities for commercial real estate investors. New commercial real estate development is shut down. That fact alone should tell investors what opportunities are on the horizon.

Photo: Unsplash/Ian Dooley

Affordable Housing | New York | Male | 23 Years in CRE

We’ve been targeting particular areas in NYC for distressed assets to convert to income-restricted housing. Between [the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019], inflationary effects on operating expenses, and the high cost of capital, rent-regulated housing is becoming increasingly distressed, and that is resulting in sellers with more flexible terms.

Finance, Venture Capital | Atlanta | Male | 20 Years in CRE

I'm just focusing on people who have stabilized properties that don't have a lot of leverage. I think that's a winning strategy.