The Weekly Take from CBRE – Details, episodes & analysis

AI is reshaping the business landscape, including commercial real estate. Data scientist and author Sandy Pentland and CBRE’s Sandeep Davé discuss how the intersection of emerging technologies and human insight is driving better decision-making for investors, occupiers and building operators.

• Commercial Real Estate & AI: For occupiers, AI can create significant operating efficiencies and enhance the workplace experience; for investors, increased efficiency can boost asset values.
• People and Technology: AI is enhancing—not replacing—human decision‑making across organizations.
• Data Quality: Good data management is the foundation for applying AI most impactfully.
• Productivity: Every organization is balancing innovation and productivity gains with responsible deployment that considers privacy, governance and human‑in‑the‑loop practices
• Long-term Outlook: AI is broadening visibility across markets, helping to foresee unanticipated or exogenous events and surfacing new ideas.

Recorded at the CBRE Women’s Network Power of WE conference, this episode offers a rapid-fire, insights-rich tour of major U.S. commercial real estate markets. Our subject-matter experts provide inside views of how different regions are navigating supply, demand and economic forces—from industrial and logistics to multifamily, office and retail—and insights on where investors and occupiers may find value in 2026.

• National CRE outlook, including signs of asset repricing stabilization, improving liquidity and transactions momentum. 
• Industrial dynamics in Southern California, from manufacturing fundamentals and port-driven demand to pockets of strength and ongoing vacancy challenges. 
• Sector trends, including data centers, alternative assets, big‑box scarcity, rent trends, and how corporate occupiers are re‑entering the market. 
• Multifamily performance across gateways, the Sun Belt and the Midwest, driven by slowing construction cycles, demographic patterns and evolving investor interest. 
• Emerging and opportunity markets, from South Carolina’s growth to resurgent metros like San Francisco, Seattle, Phoenix and smaller high-growth cities such as Boise. 

Mortenson’s Maja Rosenquist and CBRE’s Gordon Dolven examine one of real estate’s most dynamic sectors. They discuss how AI’s growth has accelerated data center development, how site-selection strategies are evolving and the challenges posed by power constraints.  

Real estate investment markets are stirring after an extended pause, and capital may be ready to come off the sidelines. KKR’s Roger Morales and CBRE’s Kevin Aussef share insights on what assets, strategies and markets stand to benefit from an expected pick up in commercial real estate activity later this year.Real estate investment markets are stirring after an extended pause, and capital may be ready to come off the sidelines. KKR’s Roger Morales and CBRE’s Kevin Aussef share insights on what assets, strategies and markets stand to benefit from an expected pick up in commercial real estate activity later this year.

Student housing has become a darling of the multifamily asset class. Real estate investor Brian Dinerstein and CBRE’s Jaclyn Fitts explain how the sector has bounced back from pandemic-era challenges and offers enticing opportunities for investors.

Insights to Share:

• Student housing has been better insulated against rising interest rates than conventional multifamily housing.
• Large public colleges and universities provide the best environment for institutional grade multifamily student housing.
• Student housing now is a much different product than what was developed two decades ago.

Growth strategist Rebecca Homkes delivers insights and ideas for companies navigating a challenging economic landscape. With wit and real-world examples, she challenges leaders to think of uncertainty as a neutral and temporary state – and where that line of thinking can lead.

Insights to Share:

·      Survive, Reset, Thrive is a playbook for fortifying companies through times of change and challenge.

·      Market uncertainty is neither good nor bad. It is a neutral fact to be dealt with.

·      Companies who are willing to think creativelyare more likely to emerge from challenges successfully.

What’s the best way to prepare for a thriving commercial real estate career today and in the future? Leaders of real estate programs at the University of North Carolina, Ohio State and Clemson enlighten us.

Key Takeaways:

• Learn to be resilient and flexible.

• Interdisciplinary approaches provide a broad real estate education.

• There is a history of collaboration between higher education systems and the commercial real estate industry.

• Experiential learning is an effective way to build skillsets. You’ve got to do the thing!

Dustin leads the Master of Real Estate Development Program at Clemson University. Previously, he was involved in leadership in the real estate programs at Virginia Tech and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Some of his research interests include affordable housing, land use policy, and public-private partnerships. Dr. Read is a NAIOP Research Foundation Distinguished Fellow, an inductee into the Institute of Real Estate Management’s Academy of Authors, and a seven-time recipient of honors from the American Real Estate Society for his contributions to real estate theory and practice.

Donald has over two dozen years of leadership experience on Wall Street across several investment management firms, one of which he founded nearly a decade ago and recently sold. In addition to leading the Center for Real Estate at The Ohio State University, he also is on the faculty at Harvard University and serves as Chair of the Harvard Alumni Real Estate Board. His predecessor faculty appointments were at Columbia University, New York University and Auburn University.

Jeff is new to his role leading the real estate program at the University of North Carolina, having started in mid-2023. Tucker has more than 20 years of experience in private equity, with the last 16 focused on real estate. He most recently served as co-chairman and CEO of Century Bridge Capital, a firm based in Beijing and Dallas that is focused on middle-class residential developments in China.

Deepki CEO Vincent Bryant and CBRE’s Emma Buckland share insights on how data analytics helps property owners attract tenants, meet sustainability goals and enhance asset values.

Insights to Share:

• Property management data has become much more standardized and transparent in the last ten years.
• CBRE’s strategic partnership with Deepki helps property management teams support investors’ sustainability goals.
• Meeting sustainability objectives can strengthen asset value and is strategically smart amid the growth of regulations.

Despite widespread adoption elsewhere in the world, modular construction has been slow to take hold in the U.S. Assembly OSM CEO Andrew Staniforth makes a compelling case for the construction technique’s affordability, sustainability and speed—as well as reasons why the practice is still in its infancy domestically.

Insights to Share:

• Modular construction is an option that provides a compelling combination of affordability, sustainability and speed.
• A tight labor market and strong real estate fundamentals make modular construction more viable.
• Affordable housing is a challenge that will require non-traditional thinking—like modular construction—to solve.

“Naturally occurring affordable housing is just an Econ 101 problem like supply and demand. The more housing that you build, it will lower the price. And I think as we start getting to scale, we hope to be able to move the market.”

Andrew Staniforth

CEO

Assembly OSM

One’s an office occupier—Orrick’s Laura Saklad—and the other’s an office investor—CBRE Investment Management’s Julie Ingersoll. From opposite sides of the table, they discuss how property investors and occupiers can work together to facilitate return-to-office strategies and make the workplace a magnet for talent attraction and retention.

Insights to Share:

·      Successful office occupancy strategies are about balancing employee flexibility with collaboration and professional development opportunities.

·      The surrounding neighborhood is an important amenity for office space.

·      The pandemic has brought landlords and tenants closer together, changing the relationship from adversarial to a partnership.

Laura Saklad

Chief Operations Officer

Orrick

Laura is responsible for leading and directing all operational functions of Orrick, a law firm with more than 25 global offices. She works closely with the Orrick’s Board and Management Committee to execute the firm’s strategy. 

Julie Ingersoll

Chief Investment Officer

Americas Direct Real Estate Strategies

CBRE Investment Management

Julie joined the firm in October 2021 from CPP Investments, an approximately $500 billion Canadian Pension Plan, where she was Managing Director overseeing portfolio strategy design and execution for 50 million square feet of U.S. residential and retail investments. At CPP, Julie focused on core-plus, value-add and development risk profiles, leading efforts across the investment lifecycle from identifying new strategies, originating and structuring joint ventures, acquisitions, asset management and dispositions.