Steve Weikal, industry chair, real estate transformation lab, MIT Center for Real Estate, and managing partner, MET Fund II, led I.CON Central attendees through an AI-driven world of robotics, automation and advanced technologies. Weikel is co-author of the recently published NAIOP Research Foundation report “From Static to Strategic: AI’s Role in Next-Generation Industrial Real Estate.”
At I.CON Central this week in Columbus, Ohio, Global Client Strategist and Senior Economic Advisor for CBRE Spencer Levy framed his keynote with a theme few would expect in a discussion about commercial real estate: the Beatles. Levy opened by telling the audience that much like the iconic band, CRE thrives on emotional resonance, innovation and the ability to adapt to changing landscapes.
Recent guidance from the Department of the Treasury, coupled with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, has shortened the window to claim federal incentives on rooftop solar. Commercial Real Estate owners must now move quickly to capture the full 30% Investment Tax Credit and secure financial benefits, while delays could mean lower lease rates and diminished returns.
Artificial intelligence is transforming the industrial real estate landscape in profound and sometimes paradoxical ways. As AI technologies become more embedded in logistics, fulfillment and manufacturing, they influence both the demand for warehouse space and the nature of the workforce inside these facilities.
The storage industry has expanded by a remarkable 547 million square feet since 2015, bringing the national total to more than 2 billion square feet. StorageCafe’s analysis of 130 of the nation’s largest cities shows a tight correlation between apartment and self-storage construction.
At this year’s NAIOP CRE.Converge conference, Peter Norman, Altus Group vice president and economic strategist, had the opportunity to share new insights on the economic impact of Canada’s commercial real estate sector. The presentation drew on fresh research prepared with the NAIOP Research Foundation and comes at a critical moment: when macroeconomic uncertainty, demographic shifts and policy decisions are reshaping the environment in which CRE operates.
David Greek and Matt Schlindwein, managing partners with Greek Real Estate Partners, joined NAIOP’s Inside CRE podcast recently to offer their takes on today’s investment climate, the headwinds shaping logistics real estate, how developers are adapting to higher costs and political pressures, and how their NAIOP involvement has shaped their careers.
