The Learning Curve: Still Learning While Leading

Cold storage is still working through the supply added after the pandemic. U.S. vacancy reached 7.7 percent in the first half of 2026, when the sector recorded its first negative first-half net absorption since 2007, according to Newmark.But development is already slowing. Americold CEO Rob Chambers said new starts have fallen significantly, project announcements have nearly come to a standstill and customer inventories have largely aligned with demand following a period of destocking.In the fifth episode of Inside Industrial, Chambers joined CPE’s Diana Firtea to discuss how those shifts are changing cold-storage development, what keeps older facilities competitive, where automation fits and why changing customer requirements are making the sector increasingly specialized.For decades, cold storage added roughly 1 percent of stock annually, Chambers said, before supply jumped to about 4 percent per year for four years following the pandemic. With that capacity now being absorbed, new construction is slowing and is increasingly tied to dedicated customers or specialized capabilities. Americold’s Plover, Wis., facility for McCain Foods, backed by a 20-year commitment, is one example.Older facilities can still remain competitive with continued investment in refrigeration, energy efficiency and selective automation. Fully automated systems, however, are generally better suited to buildings designed from the ground up. Chambers also expects future cold-storage facilities to become more specialized as food safety, e-commerce and other customer requirements evolve, while temperature-controlled logistics could expand into sectors such as pharmaceuticals, aerospace, defense and data centers.

Dan Haroun and Max Heiden first worked together between their junior and senior years at the University of Pennsylvania, when they were interns with SL Green. As they plugged away on spreadsheets until three in the morning, they’d joke around about starting a company of their own. For a few years they went their separate ways, and when they teamed up for good early in the Covid years, they decided to go into a highly fragmented but high-potential field that was only just coming into its own: industrial outdoor storage. Less than a decade later, the company they formed, Catalyst Investment Partners, owns a portfolio comprising more than a hundred and fifty properties and valued at upward of a billion dollars. In our conversation, Haroun and Heiden talk about how they built their company from the ground up. They share their insights about what makes an IOS asset attractive, and the markets and locations that offer the most potential. And this entrepreneurial duo has some tips for newer professionals who aspire to success in real estate investment. Take a listen.

In 2018, Brian Walter co-founded Fairbridge Asset Management with about $3 million raised from family and friends. It was a modest start, but Walter already had plenty of tools in his toolkit. He knew how to run a company, and he’d spent decades building his expertise in fields ranging from institutional credit trading and leveraged finance to managing a family office. Fast forward to today, and Fairbridge Asset Management, has originated about $1.6 billion on loans and manages $800 million in assets. In this episode, Walter recounts how Fairbridge found its sweet spot in a space that’s below the multibillion-dollar asset managers, he puts it. You’ll hear why he believes that real estate finance and investment isn’t only financially rewarding—it’s also an opportunity to contribute to the public good.We also spent a lot of time talking about the dynamics of the real estate capital markets and the challenges of getting deals done. Just a note about the timing of this episode. It was recorded before the Federal Open Market Committee raised the federal funds rate in September, so at the time of this conversation, we still didn’t know what the Fed was going to do. But Brian’s expectations about the rate hike turned out to be spot on, and his predictions about the impact on real estate finance and investment are insightful, too. Take a listen.

Welcome back to Sustainability Street, our podcast on the intersection of commercial real estate and the world we live.For this episode, I'm talking about cardiac health and the built environment with Dr. Bharat Sangani. As a board-certified cardiologist and founder & chairman of Dallas-based Encore Enterprises, Sangani finds himself downstream and upstream of what he refers to as American real estate's heart problem, which has resulted from changes in space usage and work patterns.  "Over a period of time, our footprints of the office space, the malls, et cetera, is getting smaller and smaller," Sangani said. "And, as it gets smaller and smaller, people have become very cost efficient and space efficient. And that has reduced our ability to walk a lot. That also has reduced our ability to have meeting spaces."But research has shown that real estate has the power to improve people's health as well. Sangani and I discuss the study of architectural epedimiology, his health-minded investment approach and his prescription for the industry.

New York City’s built environment is under increasing pressure to adapt to rapidly shifting demand. From life science and health-care conversions to workplace and retail design, flexibility is becoming increasingly important across the city’s commercial real estate landscape.In this episode of Commercial Design Lab, Perkins&WillManaging Principal Robert Clemens joins CPE’s Beata Lorincz to discuss the future of New York’s life science sector, the challenges of commercial building conversions and the trends shaping the next generation of workplaces.

CPE’s Mikayla Sciortino sits down with CenterSquare’s Rachel Gines to discuss the lessons, mentors and mistakes that shaped her path to leadership.

As loans originated in a lower-rate environment come due, commercial real estate owners are confronting higher borrowing costs, lower valuations and, in many cases, refinancing gaps that can’t be solved with conventional debt alone. Office, hospitality and multifamily are among the property types feeling the greatest strain.In this episode of FTI Experts’ Hub, CPE Executive Editor Laura Valean sits down with Ingrid Noone and Jahn Brodwin, co-leads of FTI Consulting’s Real Estate Solutions practice, to explore where rescue capital can fit into that equation. They explain why rescue capital is generally better suited to assets with viable fundamentals but troubled capital structures, as well as how it can be used to bridge refinancing gaps, support lease-ups and fund repositionings.

Office recovery continues to gain momentum in New York City and demand is spreading beyond newly built and extensively repositioned properties. The Plaza District has stabilized, activity around Penn Station continues to grow and demand is reaching Midtown South and the Financial District, according to Sage CEO & President Jonathan Kaufman Iger. For existing office buildings, he believes the next competitive phase is shifting from flight to quality to what he calls “flight to experience.” In this episode of Step Into My Office, CPE’s Olivia Bunescu talks with Kaufman Iger about how that shift is changing the way New York office properties are operated. While an improved workplace experience cannot resolve an unsustainable capital structure or eliminate the need for physical upgrades, he argues that well-maintained older buildings can compete through consistent service, relevant amenities and stronger support for tenants and their employees. Here’s what they touched on:Why New York’s office recovery is stronger than headlines suggest (01:40)Where stronger operations can change an asset’s prospects (04:32)From flight to quality to flight to experience (06:00)Capital reinvestment and the needs of older buildings (09:52)The small details behind hospitality-driven service (14:33)Inside Sage’s flagging model and “surprise and delight” element (15:43)Measuring the return on amenities and services (20:34)How better operations can strengthen tenant loyalty (26:57)Looking beyond the first response (29:27)Why branded office properties could become more common (35:31)

Flexibility can make a demanding commercial real estate career more sustainable, but the industry still runs heavily on relationship capital: client meetings, informal conversations and the “meeting after the meeting.” If visibility continues to influence who gets the best assignments, promotions and leadership opportunities, could flexibility carry a hidden career cost for women?In the latest episode of CREW Up, CPE’s Laura Valean and Alison Beddard, CEO of CREW Network, discuss how hybrid work can support women while also potentially stalling their advancement, drawing on CREW Network’s latest research.

Welcome back to Sustainability Street, CPE’s podcast on the intersection of commercial real estate and the world we live in.For this episode, I'm talking about urban beekeeping with Delaney Dameron, CEO of The Best Bees Company, which is based in Boston.Beehives on commercial rooftops are spreading, making individual buildings active supporters of their local ecosystems and pollinator research. They can also improve tenant engagement through education, programming and branded honey. Nature and biodiversity goals can often take a back seat to other sustainability targets like decarbonization and energy efficiency. But Dameron thinks the tide is changing. "We're kind of hitting a point in the marketplace where the market's catching up to understanding how critical this work is and how positive and exciting it can be from a business perspective, from a property and community perspective,” Dameron said.Here are some highlights of our conversation: (2:02) The backstory of Best Bees (2:49) Dameron's journey to CEO (4:21) The benefits of beekeeping (5:53) Where do bees thrive best? (8:25) A great source of data (10:03) The economics of bees (11:17) The practical concerns and the myths (14:34) Dos and don'ts of beehive hosting (16:48) The growing role of biodiversity (18:18) For further information