Office property owners who were able to weather the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic are crashing into a hard reality wrought by sharply lower demand and higher interest rates. Undercurrents of stress are now emerging in the form of defaults.

For grizzled veterans of commercial real estate, the return to a “negative leverage” environment may have been unforeseen but surely was not unique.

The boom in private-equity real estate fundraising that has delivered a slew of billion-dollar megafunds in recent years has slammed into some formidable headwinds. Yet, near-term challenges are not diminishing the appetite for capital among a still-crowded field of fund managers and sponsors.

When Urban Landlast spoke to New York City landlord Leslie Himmel of Himmel + Meringoff Properties in March, vacancy within the nation’s largest office market was hovering just below 10 percent. While that still registers below the market’s peak of 11.7 percent in 2010, according to Moody’s, that rate has continued to drift upwards since March. Urban Landrecently sat down with Himmel for a lively discussion about doing business in a recessionary market amid rising interest rates, and her ongoing search for what she calls “brave money.”

Haven Realty Capital and institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives have formed a programmatic joint venture to acquire and develop more than $1 billion in new build-to-rent communities throughout the United States. The joint venture comes at a time when new for-sale housing starts have fallen to a two-year low.

Developers and investors seeking capital to finance commercial real estate are facing a new reality in which capital is both more expensive and less available. Borrowers still have options, but those options depend on the credit quality and type of deal, as well as what that borrower is looking for in that loan.

ULI has been establishing dialogue between real estate professionals and climate risk data analytics firms that can help advance the interests of both parties. Enhanced collaboration and understanding between these two sides should continue to improve this evolving space, potentially improving both financial and climate-risk outcomes. As part of these efforts, ULI collaborated with First Street Foundation, a research and technology nonprofit with expertise in assessing physical climate risk at the property level in the United States.

Two of Asia’s leading entrepreneurs gave real estate investors a glimpse into the worlds of Web 3.0 and deep tech at the ULI Asia Pacific Summit.

The Dodge Momentum Index, a leading indicator for U.S. commercial real estate activity, increased 4 percent in February to 158.2, from the revised January reading of 151.9. In February, institutional planning rose 9 percent, and commercial planning moved 1 percent higher.

The next decade will be a critical period of change, with ongoing uncertainty amid the big evolution in technology, data, and laws. Commercial real estate market players may shift their strategies, affecting capital flows into and out of the asset class.