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Today’s conversation is with Adir Levitas, the founder and CEO of Faropoint, an Israeli-founded company that identified a remarkable opprotunity in the last-mile space of the industrial sector. The company has emerged from its entry into the US market to be one of the fastest-growing industrial investors in the country.  Our conversation focuses on the inception of the company and how it evolved its technological capabilities to realize the opportunities in a space that was often overlooked by investors. We will also address the comapny’s plans to expand across the country and its efforts to leverage its status in the industry today to become a national player in this very important commercial real estate segment.

Since the start of COVID, the mortgage industry has been on a tear, once it picked up from a couple of months of relative quiet. But the tide may be turning now, and Thomas Yoon, the CEO of Excelerate Capital, will tell us how things are going in this very dynamic part of the industry. Thomas is an entrepreneur, so he’s seen his share of ups and downs in this space, but it is his entrepreneurial spirit and outlook on life and business that is now taking him to invest in new companies while maintaining his focus on the industry in which he’s been successful so far. 

Sustainability is close to my heart. I strive to live in a way that reduces energy consumption, I’m aware of my carbon footprint, and when I can, I try to bring the best of the sustainability in commercial real estate to light in order to motivate others and provide some inspiration for our industry and beyond. Today’s guest will do exactly that. Joe Rozza has recently been hired by Ryan Companies as their new chief sustainability officer. He’s based in Atlanta and brings to commercial real estate over 25 years of deep and strategic experience committed to environmentalism and sustainability. Our conversation today focuses on the state of the sustainability industry across commercial real estate and what specifically he was brought to Ryan to accomplish. There’s a lot on his plate, but he is very hopeful about this industry and what it can do to help combat climate change in a meaningful way.

Sooner or later, analytics and artificial intelligence were going to make a splash in the real estate industry, and today’s guests, Archer Co-Founders Thomas Foley and Fred Canney, will tell us how their company is looking to accomplish that. Thomas, who comes from the commercial real estate space, met Fred, who worked in gold mining and the two decided to mine data for their next venture and help identify properties and the right time to buy and sell them. It’s a new world out there, and Archer is helping lead the way in this exciting new transformation.

In the world of commercial construction, it is not often that we encounter a female CEO, but for Skyline Enterprises, this transformation is not new and Jessica Carps is not a usual candidate for a role like this. With its roots in the Bay Area, Skyline has now expanded to Washington, Texas, Illinois and Southern California, but its focus remains steadfast toward its clients, which is what has been driving that growth. Today’s conversation takes us through the commercial construction industry and its drivers in a new, post COVID world. Skyline, which has successfully navigated the last two years is poised for exceptional growth, and Jessica’s here to tell us a little bit about how they are going to achieve that.

There has been a lot said about the impact we are making on our environment, and the commercial real estate industry is at times at the forefront of that. This is why we wanted to talk to someone who really understands the impact we’re having on our world and who can help us navigate these issues better. Our guest today is Leslie Moulton-Post, the President and CEO of ESA - Environmental Science Associates. Her firm employs scientists, planners, historians, archaeologists, engineers, designers, and technical specialists to provide critical thinking in the areas of environmental and community planning, analysis and assessment, natural and cultural resources management, environmental restoration and design, and regulatory compliance, which helps guide successful policy development and project planning, and deliver enduring projects across the world. For over 50 years, ESA has led the charge on these things, and its finest work is likely just ahead of it.

If you work in commercial real estate, you will have heard of Prop Tech recently, and it is likely that either you or one of your friends has an idea of how to improve commercial real estate through an innovative product or service. RET Ventures will likely be the firm you’ll meet if this is your goal, because they are solely focused on Prop Tech and look for ways to bring these innovative companies to the mainstream. Today’s conversation with Aaron Ru, a Vice President at RET, gives us a glimpse of his company’s activities, how the world of Prop Tech breaks down and what are some areas where there has been lots of activity. It’s a bright future for the industry!

Today’s conversation takes us to the back yard! Not necessarily my back yard, but a place where some cities across the country are allowing homeowners to build free-standing structures, accessory dwelling units, or more colloquially known as granny units or in-law units. The world of ADUs had grown over the last decade, and some big cities have enacted laws allowing for speedier development of these in order to curb a shortage of housing. Our chat with Adam Stone, the CEO and co-founder of ADU OZ Fund, or ADU opportunity zone fund, is now looking to bring investment dollars into this opportunity and most importantly into areas known as opportunity zones. He’s looking to really put a booster on this business and help bring housing in areas where its perhaps needed the most. Here is our conversation about his business and the cottage industry of ADUs that’s quickly evolving.

Today’s conversation is with Steve Glenn, the founder and CEO of Plant Prefab, the first prefabricated home factory in the nation dedicated to sustainable construction, materials, processes, and operations. Plant manufactures custom and single/multifamily homes that are high-quality, healthy, and durable. With their patented building system, Plant delivers low cost homes in half the time and with less waste than traditional site-based contractors. Plant models are fully customizable and available to individuals, developers, and architects. We talk to Steve about how his company is transforming the home and multifamily development business and how he sees the business progressing not just in the United States, but possibly globally, as well. These are not your typical prefab homes, and Steve is not your typical entrepreneur, either, and our conversation will reveal how his perspectives have shaped Plant and hopefully the process of building of the future.

The Swig Company is a privately owned real estate investor operator based in San Francisco with a venerable +80-year history of investment, development, partnership and management of commercial properties in major U.S. markets. Today’s conversation with its CEO Jim Carbone and President Connor Kidd takes us through a period that the firm experienced over the last two years and how those times have helped the company re-affirm its strategy and vision for the future. Oh, and Jim announces that Connor will be taking over the company, which was hinted at by Connor’s latest promotion and now reaffirmed during our conversation.

Bryan McLaren is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Zoned Properties, a strategic real estate development firm whose primary mission is to provide real estate and sustainability services for the regulated cannabis industry. Based in Scottsdale, Ariz., Bryan helps shape the industry across the country and brings an understanding of what cannabis can mean for the commercial real estate industry. In just a few years, this industry has expanded from farming to warehousing, manufacturing, retail, finance and transportation, in some places it is a significant player in the commercial real estate industry. Today’s conversation takes us through some of the ins and outs of this industry and its impact on commercial real estate and beyond.

I have not worked in construction, but I can imagine the difficult task of having to redesign or reorient something during the design phase in order to meet new criteria or requests made by the development team. Finally, Alice Technologies has a solution that helps transform the industry through its generative construction simulation.  Our conversation today is with Rene Morkos, the founder and CEO of Alice, who takes us through the company’s offering, how he came up with the product and where technologies like these will take construction and design in the future.

Today, we head down to Southern California, where are met with Jodie Poirier and Amanda Spangler. Jodie is the executive managing director of Colliers’ Greater Los Angeles region - she essentially runs the show for Colliers there - and Amanda’s role as managing director of Orange County and Inland Empire extends the group’s coverage into these two important Southern California submarkets.  The commercial real estate market in this region has been impacted just like any other in the country. However, Southern California has two really big aces up its sleeve - it is the place where most of the stuff we buy from Asia enters the country, so its industrial market is one of the most important in the country. The second ace is the creation of content, which has exploded over the last two years as we’ve binged and spent time glued to our devices while waiting for COVID to end.  Our conversation today takes us across Southern California’s commercial real estate market as we try to assess the drivers of this industry and what it may bring in the near term.

Rebecca Rockey is an economist and the Global Head of Forecasting at commercial real estate brokerage and advisory firm Cushman & Wakefield. In her role, she studies how economies, demographics, financial markets and commercial real estate interact— both at the macro and micro level. Today’s conversation covers some of the recent changes the Biden Administration enacted with the first phase of the Build Back Better bill. Its impact on commercial real estate is not insignificant and it promises to bring positive change throughout the industry. Rebecca’s perspectives will help us understand the timing of this bill, how different categories of the bill will help impact the industry and we’ll even touch on the dreaded I-word: Inflation.

In 1986, Scott Knies and a few of his colleagues set out to create a business-oriented organization that would help raise awareness of downtown San Jose. Over the next few decades, the San Jose Downtown Association would come to symbolize not only great dynamism in California’s third-largest city but also help promote the good work the city and its corporate citizens were doing to enhance the life of downtown San Jose. As is the case with many other cities, San Jose, too, is experiencing a bit of a setback, but this is all prelude to some remarkable changes coming there over the next year or so. We sit down with Scott to talk about those changes and how the city will help shape Silicon Valley of the future.

Mark Anderson is the founder and president of MGAC, a Washington, DC-based owner’s representation, and project and cost management consultancy that was born our Mark’s focus on three simple concepts: have fun, do interesting work, and make money doing it. Since 1996, the company has developed and delivered full life cycle solutions for its clients from site selection, program development, cost and schedule modeling, design management, procurement strategy and construction oversight, to name a few. With additional offices in the US located in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Seattle, MGAC has expanded its work across the Atlantic Ocean with its recent acquisition of U.K. property and construction consultants, RLF. Founded in 1885, RLF has 100 employees across four U.K. offices in London, Brighton, Birmingham and Glasgow, now places where MGAC can expand its operations. Here’s our conversation with Mark and his view on the industry.

In a recent webinar that we held online, we took a deep dive into the drivers of the construction industry across the Bay Area and how it is evolving in light of global challenges affecting every aspect of development. I sat down with leaders at Clark Construction, Pankow Builders, Nibbi Brothers and Gidel & Kocal to ask how their businesses are doing, what challenges they’ve encountered over the past few years, and how the industry as a whole is adapting to the new normal of a post-COVID world affected by labor and supply chain challenges. Here is our conversation!

Bill Galipeau is BKM Capital Partners’ new Chief Financial Officer. Joining the organization from his role as EVP and Head of Investment Operations at PIMCO, Bill brings 25 years of institutional-grade commercial real estate investment and operations experience that will help BKM in its new trajectory to be the leading industrial investment and operations platform in the Western United States. The Newport Beach company is an active player in the industrial market on the West Coast, which has been one of the busiest ones in the country. Where the industry is heading can be anyone’s guess, but BKM and Galipeau will certainly be part of that evolution in the years to come.

The life science industry has been on everyone’s mind since the start of the COVID-19 global pandemic. We all became experts in epidemiology and have been anxiously awaiting vaccines to help us get back to some semblance of normalcy. As a result, life sciences have been on a vertical trajectory, and the commercial real estate industry could not provide enough lab space for all the innovation and ideas percolating around.  Form4, an architecture firm based in San Francisco, has taken on this challenge and is helping developers and property owners to reimagine space, in some cases obsolete property, as centers of biotech innovation. James Tefend and Colin Mosher work on these projects every day, and their understanding of the industry is deep and broad.  Here’s what they have to say about life sciences and the journey ahead.

Today’s conversation takes us back to the hospitality industry, and I have the great pleasure of speaking with Greg Kennealey, the CEO of Denver-based Mission Hill Hospitality. Greg’s tenure in the industry has taken him from managing groups of hotels for KSL, which helped him springboard into a partnership with this firm to form Mission Hill. The company today is looking to grow its portfolio in the select-service/extended-stay hotel industry, which, as we’ll hear has been doing pretty well since the global COVID-19 pandemic began and is on the target list of many institutional investment organizations.  Greg’s business is growing, and he’s joining us from his office in Denver to share how the industry is changing and how his company looks to build a differentiating advantage from the rest.