Nareit's REIT Report Podcast

Matt Birenbaum, chief investment officer at AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE: AVB), joined the REIT Report podcast to discuss the multifamily REIT’s development strategy, including the repurposing of outdated assets, as well as demand drivers in the build-to-rent segment, mixed-use development opportunities, and more.Birenbaum touched on some of the major themes in the multifamily sector today, including the increase in migration to suburban locations and the desire for larger format housing on the part of millennials. That has led to increased demand for build-to-rent homes, an area that AvalonBay is increasing its focus on.Birenbaum also noted that about a third of the REIT’s communities have a retail component. “When you get it right, the whole truly can be more than the sum of the parts. And for us, this is an area where I think we do have a competitive advantage being a REIT because we are building and owning these assets for the long term.”

 In this episode of the REIT Report special series, “Building Resilience,” Dr. Jeremy Porter, head of climate implications research at First Street Foundation, shares  how data supports real estate stakeholders in making informed decisions and adapt to more extreme weather events.  In this special episode of the REIT Report, part of an ongoing series, “Building Resilience,” covering issues facing the REIT industry as it remains focused on investing for the long term, Jeremy Porter, head of climate implications research at  First Street Foundation , joins Nareit’s Jessica Long, senior vice president of environmental stewardship and sustainability, to discuss how high-resolution climate models are helping people to understand property-specific impacts from different weather events and to develop and implement adaptation plans.  “One of the ways in which we've thought about climate risk is a one-in-a-100-year event, which implies that if I just had a one-in-a-100-year flood, I don't have to worry about another one, I'm not going to live to be 100 years old. That's not actually how they work,” Porter explains. “Understanding that every year there's an independent opportunity for that probability of an event to occur, so if you look out over the 30 years of a standard residential mortgage, a 1% chance of flooding every year means that over those 30 years, you have a 26% chance of flooding. And so suddenly you're saying, wow, I have over a quarter chance of flooding over the lifetime of my mortgage.” 

Darrell Crate, co-founder and CEO of Easterly Government Properties, Inc., shares valuable insights into the commercial real estate needs of U.S. government agencies. He discusses how Easterly's focus on efficiency aligns with the Department of Government Efficiency's goals. Crate highlights innovative strategies for enhancing operational efficiency in government facilities and the impact on services for veterans. He also explores the importance of public-private partnerships and the shift toward diversifying investments in government-adjacent properties.

David Schanuel, president and COO of SageWater, joined a sponsored episode of the REIT Report podcast to discuss the importance in the multifamily sector of including plumbing and mechanical infrastructure in capital improvement planning.SageWater helps multifamily owners protect their investment and improve residents’ quality of life through turnkey plumbing and mechanical infrastructure solutions. With forensic diagnosis, engineering design, and construction services, they upgrade and install critical systems while renters remain in their homes.Schanuel noted that SageWater primarily focuses on the “substantial amount” of aged infrastructure in the multifamily sector that was delivered in the 1950s-1970s, and sometimes the early 1980s. “Their plumbing and mechanical systems have aged out or phased out of their useful life and really need to be addressed to ensure that the housing stock remains a top-quality asset for the ownership groups that maintain and rent out those facilities.”

David Giulieri and Michael Svec, senior portfolio management directors and certified financial planners with the Chesapeake Capitol Group at Morgan Stanley, were guests on Nareit’s REIT Report podcast. In recognition of April as Financial Literacy Month, Giulieri and Svec touched on a range of topics relevant to novice and seasoned investors alike.Both Giulieri and Svec emphasized the importance of staying calm and focused in today’s volatile market environment. “If you can stay disciplined during times like this, the odds of success skyrocket,” Giulieri said. Svec advised listeners to “have a plan, stick to it, and do your best to keep the emotion out of it.”During the interview, Giulieri and Svec also addressed:key questions to ask a potential financial advisorhow to balance the need to have funds available for key financial milestones, like buying a home or paying for college, with ensuring that you're also saving for retirementadvice for anyone already on the investment path, with a 401K or other investment vehicle, who's tempted to look at their latest account statement right nowwhether this is potentially a good time to either begin investing in the markets or to put additional funds inwhat a balanced investment portfolio might look like and how REITs could fit into that

Rob Main, managing partner at the shareholder advisory firm Jasper Street, joined the latest episode of Nareit’s REIT Report podcast. He discussed sustainability reporting and practical steps REITs can take to navigate the proxy season.Main described the corporate mood heading into proxy season as “anxious.” For many companies, however, as long as they've been engaging with their investors, have good disclosure, and aren't viewed as outliers by institutional investors, “they're probably going to have a good proxy season,” he said.Investors, meanwhile, are “cautious,” he said, and are likely to be more “tight-lipped” given recent SEC guidance. At the same time, their core belief about the importance of strong governance practices remains intact.

Danny Ismail, co-head of strategic research at Green Street, joined Nareit’s REIT Report podcast to discuss how real estate and REITs are positioned in the current highly volatile market environment created by last week's White House announcement on tariffs.Ismail said there's good reason to fear a slowdown in economic growth resulting from an increase in tariffs, not just from potentially higher import costs, but also a pullback in business investment as well as consumer spending.As for the market response, “we'll see how the next few weeks shake out, but thus far REITs and real estate appear to be a relative safe haven,” Ismail said. One reason for that is the starting valuation of REITs prior to the tariff announcement, where REITs looked attractive relative to the S&P 500. “REITs came into this environment on the cheaper side, while private real estate came in looking fairly valued,” Ismail noted.

Sherry Rexroad, executive vice president and CFO at Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM), was a guest on the latest episode of Nareit’s REIT Report podcast.Rexroad discussed ways to work within the current environment of shifting interest rates, recession worries, and geopolitical tensions in order to remain consistent on strategy. “It’s really important to differentiate between short-term volatility and secular change. Short-term volatility needs to be managed and monitored. It can be a distraction if you let it be,” she said.She noted that between 2019 and 2022, Piedmont shifted $1.4 billion of assets, or roughly a third of the portfolio, out of Chicago, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, and into Atlanta and Dallas.

Vikram Malhotra, managing director, real estate equities and research at Mizuho, joined the latest episode of the Nareit REIT Report podcast to share some of the findings from recent Mizuho research into the economic and investment implications likely to result from an aging population.Malhotra noted that the 75-plus cohort in the United States is set to grow at about 4% per annum over the next five to 10 years. By 2030, the group will represent 10% of the total population, up from 7.5% today. At the same time, their spending is expected to grow over 80%, or $700 billion, through 2030.

Nareit Hawaii Executive Director Gladys Quinto Marrone was a guest on the latest episode of Nareit’s REIT Report podcast. Marrone discussed the mission of Nareit Hawaii, including its community outreach work.As to how the Nareit Hawaii Community Giving Initiative, established by the Nareit Foundation, goes about selecting the programs it chooses to support, Marrone noted, “We try to ensure that grantees come from all around the state and serve as many people as possible.”Typically, four to five Nareit Foundation grants have been awarded annually, totaling about $350,000 to $400,000. In addition, five to six grants a year totaling $150,000 to $200,000, from Nareit Hawaii are awarded to nonprofits supporting a variety of charitable causes.https://nareithawaii.com/