Environmental due diligence is a critical part of modern real estate transactions. In the United States, the cornerstone of this due diligence is often the Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) . This article provides an in-depth look at Phase I ESAs – what they are, why they’re conducted, who needs them, how they’re performed, the standards and terminology involved, and their limitations. Written in an accessible style for real estate developers and lenders, this guide

Today’s real estate landscape in Florida has been reshaped by the Live Local Act (Senate Bill 102 of 2023)  – a sweeping affordable housing law that preempts local zoning to encourage multifamily development. Background and Objectives of the Live Local Act Florida’s Live Local Act was signed into law in 2023 amid a statewide housing affordability crisis. With broad bipartisan support, the Act aims to spur the production of affordable and workforce housing  by removing local r

Introduction Student housing and senior housing represent two distinct niches in real estate, yet they share a common challenge: how to “right-size”  the program of facilities and services to balance market appeal and economic feasibility. Over-amenitize a property and you risk bloated costs that erode returns; under-program it and you may fall behind competitors or fail to meet tenant expectations. This report takes a deep dive into program right-sizing and services mix econ

Policy Overview: Capping Tourism and Halting New Hotel Supply Amsterdam’s local government has enacted a strict “Tourism in Balance” policy to safeguard liveability, which includes an annual cap of 20 million tourist overnight stays  and a ban on new hotel construction . Under the policy, a new hotel can only be developed if an existing hotel of equivalent size closes, ensuring no net increase in total rooms . This effectively means no new  hotels  unless they replace older o

Introduction Commercial real estate (CRE) development projects involve significant upfront costs and future income streams that must be carefully analyzed. A development pro forma  – a detailed projection of costs and revenues – is a starting point, but translating it into a feasibility study  means bridging those cash flows into a credible valuation and investment case. In this report-style post, we explore how to convert a development pro forma into a defensible feasibility

Executive Summary:   The U.S. industrial real estate sector in Q3 2025 is navigating a deliberate downshift from its pandemic-era boom. Market fundamentals remain relatively healthy but have softened: national vacancy sits around 7.5% , a decade-high but only slightly above long-term norms, while rent growth has decelerated to roughly +1.4% year-over-year (YoY)  – its slowest pace since 2012. After record expansion, supply additions are finally outrunning demand , pushing vac

Introduction:  Legacy retail formats – from vacant big-box stores to defunct malls – are increasingly being redeveloped into convenience-oriented retail hubs. These repositioning strategies involve converting large, outdated spaces into smaller, high-demand retail units (such as quick-service restaurants, fitness studios, discount stores, and service-oriented shops) and carving out valuable pad sites on outparcels. This report examines the feasibility of these strategies in t

Introduction In the U.S. hotel industry, revenue volatility  has become a defining challenge for lenders and investors. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored how dramatically Average Daily Rate (ADR)  and Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR)  can swing, with 2020 seeing RevPAR collapse by nearly 50% year-over-year – an unprecedented drop. Even outside of such extreme events, hotels experience cyclical and seasonal fluctuations in occupancy and rates that far exceed those in other

In early September 2025, NeueHouse  – an upscale, members-only coworking and social club – shocked its community by abruptly shutting down all of its locations. The announcement came with only 48 hours’ notice  for members to retrieve their belongings. The company’s board cited “legacy liabilities”  and severe financial challenges that made continued operations untenable. NeueHouse’s swift collapse has sent ripples through the coworking industry, raising questions about the v

Introduction Lenders financing multifamily properties today face a complex environment of record supply, shifting rents, and evolving tenant behaviors . Many assets are operating below their theoretical “stabilized” potential due to factors like loss-to-lease  (in-place rents trailing market levels) and rent concessions  offered to attract or retain tenants. These gaps between stabilized expectations and in-place reality can materially impact Net Operating Income (NOI) , debt

Introduction The relationship between capitalization rates (“cap rates”) and interest rates is a cornerstone of commercial real estate (CRE) finance. Lenders and investors closely watch cap rates – the ratio of a property’s net operating income to its value – alongside benchmarks like Treasury yields or mortgage rates. In theory, higher interest rates should lead to higher cap rates (lower property values), while lower rates compress cap rates and boost values. However, empir

Executive Summary: GIC Private Limited (GIC) – Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund – manages one of the world’s largest and most diversified commercial real estate (CRE) portfolios. This analysis of GIC’s CRE portfolio provides an investor-grade review of its scale, composition, geographic footprint, and performance trends , leveraging MMCG’s internal data and augmented by public sources. Key findings  include GIC’s substantial industrial/logistics focus (~60% of portfolio by a

In the post-pandemic landscape, industrial real estate has split into clear submarkets – large “bulk” distribution centers, mid-sized logistics facilities, and small last-mile warehouses – each exhibiting different performance and risk profiles. This report provides a strategic market brief and underwriting guide on why cap rates diverge across these logistics asset classes. Using the MMCG database (compiling national industrial market data), we examine key value drivers, com

Overview of Brookfield’s Commercial Real Estate Footprint Brookfield Corporation is a leading global alternative asset manager and investor with a significant commercial real estate (CRE) portfolio. Founded in 1899 and headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Brookfield has grown into a diversified enterprise spanning real estate, infrastructure, renewable energy, private equity, and credit. In its real estate business, Brookfield serves as both a property owner/operator and an inve

Introduction Selecting appropriate discount rates  and capitalization rates (cap rates)  is a critical step in commercial real estate valuation and underwriting. These rates directly influence property values, investment decisions, and loan terms. Yet determining the “right” rate is as much art as science – requiring market evidence, analytical cross-checks, and sound judgment. This playbook provides a structured approach for U.S. real estate lenders and investors to evidence

Introduction In commercial real estate (CRE) appraisals, the final opinion of value is rarely derived from a single number in isolation. Instead, appraisers consider multiple approaches to value  – typically the Income, Sales Comparison, and Cost approaches – each yielding its own value indication. The process of reconciling  these indications into one well-supported conclusion is a critical step in appraisal analysis and reporting. A credible reconciliation provides the rati

Executive Summary Scale & Market Position:  Blackstone Inc. (NYSE: BX) is the world’s largest owner of commercial real estate, with a global portfolio value exceeding $600 billion  and over 12,000 properties owned . Its real estate arm manages $339 billion of investor capital  and benefits from Blackstone’s total $1.21 trillion  in assets under management. This unparalleled scale provides diversification and access to capital, making Blackstone a bellwether in the CRE market.

Market Overview and Growth Outlook (2020–2030) According to the MMCG industry database, the U.S. mental health and substance abuse clinics market reached $38.9 billion in annual revenue in 2025 , after expanding at roughly 4.0% compound annual growth  from 2020. This robust growth was fueled by rising demand for treatment amid higher public awareness of mental health issues and substance abuse, coupled with improving insurance coverage. Looking ahead, industry revenue is proj

Market Overview The U.S. real estate sales and brokerage industry is a massive and mature market, generating about $241.3 billion  in revenue in 2025. This reflects a modest 1.0% growth  over the prior year, signaling a tentative recovery after the sharp downturn of 2022–2023. Over the past five years, industry revenue growth has been essentially flat (around 0.8% CAGR  for 2020–2025) – a figure that belies extreme volatility during the pandemic housing boom and subsequent co

Introduction In commercial real estate finance, few factors are as pivotal to cash flow and credit risk as vacancy and credit loss . These terms refer to the income lost from empty space (vacancy) and from tenants failing to pay rent (credit loss). Lenders, credit analysts, and investors carefully scrutinize vacancy and credit loss because they directly impact a property’s Net Operating Income (NOI)  and thus its ability to service debt. A key distinction must be made between