Nareit's REIT Report Podcast

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.” 

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, Michael Reed, senior director of building transformation at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), joins Nareit’s Jessica Long, senior vice president of environmental stewardship and sustainability. They discuss the organization’s experience working with the commercial real estate community to advance energy efficiency, delivering benefits to the energy system more broadly, including reliability and resilience.Reed shares how NYSERDA has evolved in the 50 years since it was founded as the state’s atomic energy agency in the 1970s. “The mission of having energy work for, and benefit, New Yorkers, making that energy as reliable and affordable as possible, has not wavered. The challenges as we look towards the future intersect with this conversation on resilience because our climate in New York and across the world is getting hotter. There's more moisture in the air, leading to extreme weather events, but also making the job of operating buildings harder.” 

Earnest Sweat, a tech innovation expert, was a guest on the latest edition of the REIT Report podcast. In the second of a three-part miniseries, Sweat continued to examine the intersection of AI with the REIT sector, focusing on real world solutions that are transforming the industry. 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. Sweat stressed that AI allows humans “to do what they do best…show empathy, be creative, be influential, and make sales.” At the same time, he underlined the importance of “really thinking about what you are doing today, what is the process, and how could this potential technology improve it,” in addition to setting definitive key performance indicators. 

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, Deborah Cloutier, chief sustainability officer of Legence and the president and founder of RE Tech Advisors, joins Nareit’s Jessica Long, senior vice president of environmental stewardship and sustainability, to discuss her perspective on the evolution of sustainability as part of strategic planning for building owners. She also looks at the role of data, engineering and skilled trades in advancing ROI-backed solutions that improve efficiency, resilience, and asset value. Cloutier shares how Legence is a leading provider of engineering, consulting, installation, and maintenance services for mission-critical systems in buildings, making them more energy efficient, resilient, and sustainable.

Bryan Connolly, chair of the U.S. real estate practice at DLA Piper, was a guest on the latest episode of the REIT Report. Connolly shared findings from the firm’s 2025 State of the Market Survey regarding market sentiment among real estate leaders. “The biggest trend is the continued emergence of some positivity and some excitement about what the future may hold,” Connolly said. DLA Piper carried out its survey twice this year, once in early 2025 and then again after U.S. trade policies impacted sentiment. Connolly pointed out that some leaders remarked on the ability to acquire some of the best properties at 50% to 60% of replacement costs, “recognizing that troubled times yield new opportunities.” He also highlighted sentiment that the market has bottomed out and that new pricing has been established. Meanwhile, the significant amount of equity available and intended to be deployed, expectation of stabilized interest rates, and fundamentals in the market are “really creating an exciting long-term opportunity for investment.” During the interview, Connolly also discussed views on the availability of equity capital, REIT sectors generating the most interest today, the outlook for acquisitions, dispositions, and joint ventures, and more.

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, Holly Neber, chief resilience officer at AEI Consultants joins Nareit’s Jessica Long, senior vice president of environmental stewardship and sustainability, to discuss turning climate data into action at the property level using industry leading best practices captured in the new ASTM standard, Property Resilience Assessment. What's the property worth? What are the potential hazards, the risks?“The ASTM guide was never meant to be something extra or something brand new, but really a roadmap consistent with what firms were already doing to provide an industry-accepted standard so we can all refer back to it. So all the parties agree on a common approach to communicating the findings.” She goes on to explain the three parts of the assessment, including identifying property-specific exposure to identified risks, to estimate potential damage and downtime of identified risk exposure, and, if necessary, develop specific recommendations to address concerns.