📈 The rise of 'bougie industrial'

🐣 Happy Easter, Best Ever readers!

In today’s newsletter, industrial gets bougie, Feds target Greystar, absorption breaks records, and tariffs affect everyone — even you.

Today’s weekend edition is presented by Viking Capital, which is excited to announce its latest investment opportunity, The Hamilton, a luxurious 232-unit multifamily community in the Nashville MSA.

👉 Also, join us and our special guests, Vintage Capital, at 7pm EST this Wednesday for a FREE live event: Lessons Learned from 10+ Years in the Mobile Home Park Space. Register here to save your seat today.

Let’s CRE!

🗞️ NO-FLUFF NEWS
CRE HEADLINES

Feds Target Greystar: Federal regulators are suing Greystar, alleging the juggernaut landlord misled tenants with deceptively low advertised rates while hiding mandatory fees that added significant costs later in the rental process.

OZ 2.0: The Trump-era opportunity zone tax program, which doubled apartment development in distressed areas, faces expiration in 2026. Investors are now pushing for an extension or permanent "Opportunity Zones 2.0" program.

Multifamily Sentiment: ​​Investor sentiment for U.S. multifamily assets improved significantly in Q1 2025, with buyer sentiment jumping to 65% from 44% despite the Fed signaling fewer interest rate cuts as it awaits policy clarity from the Trump administration.

Algorithm Crackdown: Colorado lawmakers are pushing legislation to outlaw algorithmic rent-setting software, making it a violation of state antitrust laws. The bill has passed the House and cleared a Senate committee, with a floor vote expected soon.

Tariff Impact: New 25% steel and aluminum tariffs will hit Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, and Memphis hardest, where multifamily construction has seen the highest growth. Rising costs threaten to reverse 20 consecutive months of rent declines as developers delay projects and pass expenses to renters.

🌎 FREE LIVE EVENT WITH VINTAGE CAPITAL
LESSONS FROM 10+ YEARS IN THE MHP SPACE

Join us and our special guest this Wednesday, April 23, for a FREE live event — Lessons Learned from 10+ Years in the Mobile Home Park Space.

In this webinar, Brad Johnson, co-founder and CIO of Vintage Capital, will share invaluable insights from his experience as both an operator and allocator in the mobile home park sector.

👉 Register below to join us at 7pm EST on April 23.

🏆 TOP STORY
THE RISE OF ‘BOUGIE INDUSTRIAL’

In the face of rising industrial vacancy, tenants are gaining leverage when negotiating for industrial space. And with surveys showing that 67% of manufacturers say attracting and keeping employees is their top concern, developers are adapting to provide facilities that help manufacturers retain top talent. 

• The Labor Challenges: Manufacturing alone could need to fill 3.8 million jobs by 2033, with nearly half potentially remaining vacant if current trends continue. Despite these headwinds, 62% of manufacturers still expect to expand their frontline workforce next year.

• The Flight to Quality: With approximately 60% of the nation's industrial buildings constructed before 2000, most facilities lack the ceiling height and infrastructure needed for modern operations. This has accelerated a "flight to quality" movement, with tenants gravitating toward properties that offer both operational efficiency and employee-focused amenities.

Developers to the Rescue: Leading developers are transforming industrial spaces to address the modern industrial workforce's needs, transforming them from merely functional spaces to genuinely appealing workplaces with amenities including:

• Diverse Dining Options: No more vending machines and sandwich carts. Some developments now include complete food hall experiences with upscale dining.

• Recreational Amenities: Walking trails, outdoor lounges — even pickleball courts.

• Childcare: Day care centers and family-friendly facilities that support work-life balance.

• Educational Resources: Adjacent libraries and training spaces for professional development.

• Sustainability Features: EV charging stations and green design elements that are attractive to younger workers.

Bougie Industrial: In this new world of industrial development, warehouses are transforming from strictly functional boxes to intuitive campuses where workers want to work, live, and play.

WHAT IT ALL MEANS

Will most warehouses eventually resemble Silicon Valley campuses? Likely not. Many still emphasize operational efficiency rather than worker-centric design. There is still a bottom line, after all. Still, the “bougie industrial” movement is gaining momentum. And in select markets, as the trend persists, manufacturers occupying these venues will begin drawing top talent, spurring an arms race among industrial landlords.

🏘️ VIKING CAPITAL
INTRODUCING THE HAMILTON

Introducing The Hamilton, a luxurious 232-unit multifamily community located in Hendersonville, Tennessee, one of Nashville's most desirable and supply-constrained submarkets.

💰 This premier light value-add property offers exceptional rent growth potential with Viking's plan to make minor upgrades and raise rents by $300+ while still remaining below market comps.

⭐️ Why Hendersonville? This vibrant community features top-rated schools and strong demographics, with exceptional rent growth potential and minimal new supply on the horizon. Limited inventory, growing demand, and a high-occupancy track record create ideal conditions for strong cash flow and long-term appreciation.

👉 The Hamilton is already a cash-flowing property with 97% occupancy, and Viking Capital plans to capture immediate upside by raising rents by over $300 while still remaining below market comps — all part of Viking Capital’s commitment to identifying low-risk opportunities that preserve investor capital while maximizing long-term growth potential.

To learn more about Viking Capital and The Hamilton investment opportunity, which is available for you right now, click the button below and get started today.

💰 CRE TRENDS
MULTIFAMILY Q1 REPORT: RECORD ABSORPTION

It was a record Q1 for multifamily absorption, alongside accelerating rent growth, despite obvious economic headwinds.

• Q1 saw 138,000+ units absorbed, with Atlanta, Phoenix, and Dallas leading absorption and Anaheim as the only major market that saw net move-outs.

• Supply continued moderating with 116,000 new deliveries, pointing to a projected 431,000 units for 2025, 26% below 2024 levels.

• Rent growth accelerated in Q1 with a 0.3% increase — the first Q1 growth since 2022 — with over half of the top 50 markets outperforming the national average.

Looking ahead, RealPage projects 2.3% national rent growth for 2025, with 72% of markets expecting 2-3.9% increases, and total absorption reaching 460,000 by the end of 2025.

🎙️ THE BEST EVER CRE SHOW
WHY TARIFFS WILL AFFECT EVERYONE — EVEN YOU

Ryan Pineda, a former professional baseball player turned powerhouse real estate entrepreneur, joined Matt Faircloth on the Best Ever CRE Show this week. During their discussion, Pineda shared how he received an exclusive invite to a recent dinner with the JPMorgan brass. 

The event was about mergers and acquisitions, but the macroeconomic principles discussed also apply directly to real estate. They discussed tariff negotiations with China, Pineda says, and how those negotiations will determine what 2025 and beyond will look like — good or bad, rebound or recession, deals or no deals.

Here’s Pineda recalling a key discussion on how tariffs will impact not only the price of goods and materials, but also the flow of capital:

It's funny, I was with them two years ago when rates and everything were starting to go up, and they were like, “It's about to be bloody.” And so I started transitioning and positioning, and it was absolutely right.

So I'm at the dinner last night, and they were like, “Look, a lot of y'all don't think the tariffs may matter to your industry, but they do. They matter to everybody. You're either going to be affected directly or indirectly,”

And it was interesting because they were talking about it from a super high-level point of view — about the hedge funds and private equity. They were basically saying that if you're trying to sell your business and it's worth, say, $50 million, and you think that you're OK, that tariffs don't affect you….

WRONG. They do. 

Because these big funds who may be interested in acquiring you? They have other businesses that are affected by the tariffs. And now they can't exit those businesses the way that they thought they would. So now they don't have the liquidity to make the next acquisition.

We understand that as real estate investors. If we can't exit this apartment that we thought we were going to exit because it's not favorable conditions, that investor capital is still tied up. I can't make my next acquisition.

Pineda’s Takeaway: At the end of the day, Pineda says, what we really want as real estate investors is transaction volume. That's how we all win. If there's volume trading, lenders win, dealmakers win, wholesalers, syndicators — everyone. But when there's no volume, everybody loses. 

“So really,” Pineda says, “The thing that I'm looking for is … I want to see deals happening."

🎙️ For more from Pineda on real estate, innovation, building a sellable business, and more, listen to his full episode here.

🎓 BEST EVER COMMUNITY
HOW WILL STOCK MARKET TURBULENCE IMPACT CRE?

With tariffs tanking the stock market, our own Ash Patel took to the Best Ever Community to ask how this affects their CRE outlook.

Here's what they're saying 👇

📣 "While massive losses in stocks will get people thinking about alternative investments, several CRE asset classes will see more downward price action before bottoming out. Multifamily will likely continue dropping for much of 2025 before stabilizing later this year."

📣 "I am hoping this market makes the stability of commercial real estate look more appealing."

📣 "If markets continue to decline, that affects investor sentiment. Many will be defensive and keep cash on the sidelines amid uncertainty."

📣 "It might actually be harder for RE to raise money. With stock values fallen, it can be a buyers' market for equities with good growth potential."

What's YOUR take? Join the Best Ever Community discussions where investors are navigating these volatile markets together. Whether you're selling assets, buying aggressively, or holding steady, your perspective adds value.