Nareit's REIT Report Podcast

Friso Berghuis, director of listed investments at Dutch pension fund investment manager Bouwinvest, joined the REIT Report podcast to discuss the integration of REITs and listed real estate into Bouwinvest’s global investment strategy.Bouwinvest has executed on a fully integrated public and private real estate strategy since 2012. Berghuis noted that including listed real estate ensures the opportunity to invest in specific compelling geographic markets and sectors such as health care, self-storage, and data centers.“Essentially, investing in listed real estate means you are also adding high quality diversified portfolios to the mix. And these portfolios are generally managed by seasoned management teams,” Berghuis said.Other reasons to choose global listed real estate include the ability to move quickly to invest in multiple sectors and markets, and the fact that listed and unlisted investments generally do not move in sync, he noted. 

Victor Coleman, chairman and CEO of Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc. (NYSE: HPP), joined the latest episode of the REIT Report podcast. He discussed the unique positioning of Hudson Pacific in the REIT sector, with its focus on marquee office and studio properties for tech and media tenants.Coleman shared insights on current trends in the West Coast office market, the impact of AI on real estate, innovative leasing strategies, the effects of new tax incentives on studio demand in California and New York, and the financial improvements Hudson Pacific has made to ensure future growth. During the interview, Coleman observed that West Coast office fundamentals are “absolutely improving,” led by San Francisco, which he described as the “epicenter of AI.” Public safety initiatives in the city have also led to an increase in investment, he noted. 

Sally Ann Flood, Vice Chair and U.S. Real Estate Sector Leader at Deloitte, shares vital insights from Deloitte's 2026 Commercial Real Estate Outlook. With an optimistic sentiment index of 65, she reveals that 75% of global executives plan to boost their real estate investments. Flood highlights key sectors like data centers and logistics, discusses capital market dynamics, and explores AI's growing role in the industry. She emphasizes the U.S. as a top investment destination, driven by strategic partnerships and evolving tax policies.

Bill Hughes, managing director, liquid strategies at Digital Bridge Investment Management, joined the latest episode of the REIT Report podcast. He discussed opportunities in listed real estate and REITs for institutional investors, the impact of liquidity on market dynamics, the importance of strategic portfolio construction in relation to interest rates, and more.Hughes noted that now is an “interesting time” for institutional investors to be thinking about their allocation to public real estate, where a number of higher quality assets are trading at material discounts to private market values. He described the public markets as having “a decent number of mispriced and interesting” investments available right now.During the interview he also noted that for DigitalBridge, focusing capital into “idiosyncratic stories within a fairly rich and diverse opportunity set that is the REIT market” provides its investors with exposure to investments that are significantly different from what they can find in the private markets or in a market cap weighted index.

In this episode, Sarah Borchersen-Keto and Uma Moriarity, senior investment strategist at CenterSquare Investment Management, discuss the implications of recent Federal Reserve decisions on interest rates and their impact on REITs and the commercial real estate market. They explore historical trends in REIT performance, current investor sentiment, and the valuation differences between public and private real estate markets. Moriarity shares insights on high conviction property types and strategies for building resilient portfolios amidst economic uncertainty.

Stacey McEvoy, partner at Hogan Lovells, was a guest on the latest episode of the REIT Report podcast. She discussed REIT transaction activity, capital raising, legal and regulatory issues facing the industry, and more. McEvoy noted that REITs demonstrated resilience in the first half of 2025 and pointed out that those REITs that have maintained disciplined balance sheets have been the most successful at navigating market volatility. “I do think the modest positive performance that REITs have experienced during these uncertain times have left them well-positioned to achieve stronger performance in 2026 as the markets stabilize,” she said. McEvoy also said the market is continuing to feel the effects of the high cost of capital from the last couple of years, along with higher cap rates. “And although those have been declining, investor sentiment remains cautious. As a result, transaction volume has been down.” 

Chad Lavender, president of capital Markets for North America at Newmark, was a guest on the latest episode of the REIT Report podcast. Lavender discussed REIT capital market activity today, including solid demand for larger asset portfolios, REIT sectors where capital is being deployed extensively, the anticipated wave of investment in alternative asset classes, and more. Lavender noted that capital market activity for the health care sector, particularly senior housing, has outperformed other asset classes over the past couple of years. Meanwhile, office REITs have also been active on the acquisition front, he noted, with many opting for JV partnerships in the process. Sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East and Asia continue to be active JV partners with REITs, he added. As for interest in alternative assets, Lavender described a “huge wave of investing,” pointing out that the digital infrastructure and data center boom “is a modern day gold rush.”

Earnest Sweat, a tech innovation expert, was a guest on the latest edition of the REIT Report podcast. In the last of a three-part miniseries, Sweat continued to examine the intersection of AI with the REIT sector, focusing on how REITs can evaluate AI pilots, partnerships, and capabilities. Sweat is a venture capitalist and general partner at Stresswood, an early-stage fund focused on backing exceptional founders building the next wave of enterprise technology. During the interview, Sweat discussed critical questions a REIT leader should ask before launching an AI initiative, as well as how REITs can balance the promise of AI with the reality of implementation, and how REIT leaders should effectively communicate the value and purpose of AI initiatives to their teams. 

Craig Ramiro, executive vice president of asset management at Armada Hoffler Properties, Inc. (NYSE: AHH), joined the latest episode of the REIT Report podcast. He discussed the company’s focus on creating value—including repositioning and redevelopment opportunities across the portfolio—as well as the strong demand it sees for its class-A office properties. Ramiro noted that Armada Hoffler is benefitting from the supply-demand imbalance for top office space in the best locations. In Baltimore, for example, where the REIT has 1.6 million square feet of office space, Ramiro pointed to a “pretty astounding” level of corporate relocations. 

Mark Wojteczko, Deloitte’s national real estate funds co-leader, was a guest on the latest episode of Nareit’s REIT Report podcast. He reviewed findings from a recent Deloitte report into the rise of alternative property types and how upcoming changes in corporate leadership could accelerate that trend. “We do believe that the emergence of these alternative property types is going to accelerate in the future and that many next-gen leaders are going to be a big part of that,” Wojteczko said, referring to an anticipated pick-up in c-suite retirements within the next decade. “We believe that the appetite for some of these younger executives to really continue to focus on the alternative property types as an investable universe is significant and something that we're certainly monitoring here.”