Nareit's REIT Report Podcast Nareit

Nils Kok, professor of real estate at the University of Maastricht, and Siqi Zheng, professor of real estate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, were guests on the latest episode of Nareit’s REIT Report podcast.Kok and Zheng are two of the academic directors of the Global Real Estate Leaders Program, an executive training program aimed at emerging real estate professionals with at least 10 years’ experience, sponsored by the MIT Center for Real Estate and Maastricht University Centre. Nareit is a participating organization in the new executive education program.Kok noted that the program is aimed at executives who are eager to learn about the latest real estate finance or mega trends, but don’t have the time to go back to school for a year.

Matt Kelly, CEO of JBG SMITH (NYSE: JBGS) and Nareit’s 2024 chair, was a guest on the 400 th episode of Nareit’s REIT Report podcast.In a wide-ranging interview, Kelly speaks about placemaking—a hallmark of the REIT’s approach to development—and the importance of “striking the right balance” between public space, retail, and work and living spaces, alongside basic neighborhood necessities.He also talks about the importance of affordable housing, JBG SMITH’s shift to become a majority multifamily REIT, the Potomac Yard arena project, the REIT’s ongoing commitment to National Landing and the Northern Virginia submarket, and more.

Steven Brown, senior vice president and senior portfolio manager for American Century Investments, was a guest on the latest episode of the REIT Report podcast.Brown described the landscape for REIT investment today, noting that most REITs issued earnings growth guidance for 2024 of around 4%.“The REIT earnings outlook still looks very solid,” Brown said. “Demand is better than supply in most property sectors…higher interest rates as well as the higher cost of construction have started to slow supply in many of the markets we invest in. We think the picture is improving for…REIT earnings growth in 2024 and 2025.”Register for Nareit's REITweek: 2024 Investor Conference: https://go.reit.com/reitweekRR

This episode of the REIT Report’s ongoing series “Building to Zero” features Ben Myers, senior vice president of sustainability at BXP (NYSE: BXP) and continues to dig deeper into the real estate industry’s journey to reduce emissions from the built environment.Myers shares his view on why it is so important to take a long term view on electrification, which refers to the replacement of fossil fuel equipment, like internal combustion engines and gas boilers, with electric motors or heat pumps.The common case for electrification is that building owners can decarbonize and utilize equipment that is significantly more efficient. “Electrification of everything is what I'm here to talk about today. And in particular, how to spread this religion around electrification. I am a believer that we need to electrify the built environment and I'll explain why, but I do think that we need to take some important steps to get there,” Myers says.

Matt Werner, senior portfolio manager for REITs at Chilton Capital Management, was a guest on the latest episode of Nareit’s REIT Report podcast.Werner emphasized the resilience of public REITs amid economic challenges, especially in managing debt maturities and maintaining dividend payments during periods of uncertainty.According to Werner, public REITs are now positioned to capitalize on market volatility, with robust balance sheets enabling them to acquire distressed properties. "We're still kind of waiting for the sort of big moment for public REITs to go out and make significant acquisitions or for private companies to bite the bullet and decide that going public is the only kind of way to save their company."

Bill Hughes, managing director of liquid strategies at DigitalBridge Investment Management, was a guest on the latest edition of the Nareit REIT Report podcast.Hughes discussed some of the trends and developments in digital infrastructure and real estate securities markets today. He noted that the types of real estate businesses that get characterized as digital infrastructure currently compose around 40% of the publicly traded real estate market by value. “That's something that was not true a decade, a decade and a half ago.”When analyzing digital infrastructure, the same issues that impact traditional real estate—such as supply and demand dynamics, unit level economics, the capital intensity of the asset over time, lease structures, and credit counterparties—should all be considered, Hughes said.